Falter

by Haven Cage

  With panic wrapping a tight fist around my throat, I observed the once solid surface giving and stretching like rubber. How was this possible? Whatever was trying to get through was large and determined.

  There was an abrupt tear in the wall and the dark figure erupted out into Gavyn’s apartment. It’s wickedly intent gaze scanned over the room, a predator hunting its prey.

  It was there for one thing and one thing only.

  I pushed myself up, weak-kneed, and studied the dark head slowly swiveling around, casing the room for its victim.

  The monster reeked so badly I could taste it. This time there was no stopping the vomit climbing to my throat. I doubled over and retched on the floor. My legs couldn’t hold my weight any longer. My eyes rolled back, then blackness came.

  I woke up moments later seated between Gavyn’s legs, my back snuggly pressed into his chest, secured in his embrace. He had dragged us into the end of the hallway, away from the monster exploring his apartment, away from George’s body. I looked over at the troubled face resting on my shoulder, watching the scene playing out in his living room.

  I cringed when a loud screech bounced off the walls and pierced my ears. My eyes shifted to the corpse on the floor and the monster closing in on it. The disabling heartbreak flooded back in when I recalled the moments before my black-out.

  I shoved forward, fully intending to protect George, but Gavyn’s fingertips dug into my biceps, gripping me so tight it hurt. My legs kicked in front of me, and I thrashed from side to side, struggling to gain some leverage against his restraints. I didn’t care what that thing was, I just wanted to save George from it.

  “Why aren’t you doing something?!” I screamed at Gavyn, pounding my fists into his thighs. Hot tears flowed from my eyes.

  The being lowered onto its knobby knees and prowled toward George. Its hungry eyes zoned in on me and the ruckus I was creating, daring me to come closer—to invade its precious territory. I stopped fighting Gavyn’s hold on me and retreated back against his body, winded by my failed attempts to reach George. I scowled at the monster from afar, relaying the hate I caged for it.

  Gavyn cautiously loosened his grip on me and whispered in my ear, “Don’t move.”

  I couldn’t move if I wanted to; I was frozen in a haze of fear and anger. My thoughts suddenly connected, and I realized the monster staring at me now was familiar.

  Impossible.

  I saw this demon in the vision I had in Gavyn’s stairwell. Every burnt piece of flesh and melded feature shuffled forward from the forgotten place in the back of my mind. The mouthless face, the black eyes, and the lean skeletal body. It was all the same.

  I should be happy to know I’m not insane, that Gavyn was experiencing this too, but instead terror sunk its fangs deeper into my emotions. My entire existence was only part of a greater, scarier, and more complicated truth that refused to stay hidden from me anymore.

  The demon lowered, its marred, angular face less than an inch from George’s skin, and sniffed. It grunted and moaned with each inhalation. I was disgusted, yet I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it.

  My jaw clamped down in anger. My fists clenched against my thighs. Every muscle in my body tightened, eager to hurl me towards this thing and take it down fighting. I couldn’t let the evil of such a creature contaminate George. Yet, shock, or maybe fear, wouldn’t allow me to satisfy my urges.

  “What is it going to do?” I asked quietly. Even a whisper couldn’t hide the fright and grief in my voice.

  “I don’t know. I think it’s here for George’s soul,” Gavyn explained, waiting for me to react. “It’s an Animus Demon. That’s what it does. It harvests souls.” He leaned his head against the wall, evading my scared eyes, and stared at the ceiling. He knew that whatever was about to occur wasn’t going to be good. The regret was clear in his pinched brow, tight lips, and twitching jaw.

  “Harvests them for what, Gavyn?” I whined, forcing the words out. Somehow, I already knew the answer, but I needed him to say it.

  “It harvests for him. The King of Hell.” His head dropped down and he fixed his gaze to where my hand was flattened over his leg.

  Instinct kicked in. Before I realized it, I was sprinting towards George—and toward the demon. Gavyn yelled my name as he lunged up and chased after me. Even if I knew how, there was nothing around to fend this thing off. I didn’t care though. My focus was on George. He didn’t deserve damnation. I wasn’t about to let him go without some sort of battle, no matter how little competition I was for the monster.

  Before I reached George’s lifeless body, Gavyn’s arms hooked around me, yanking me to a halt. My vision blurred from the tears welling in my eyes. “No. Don’t,” I screamed. I dug my nails into Gavyn’s arm, clawing for freedom from his grasp and crying uncontrollably.

  “We can’t change this part, Nevaeh. I’m so sorry.” He hugged me from behind and kissed the back of my head while I wrestled to get away, my hands and legs fisting and kicking the air.

  A strange sense of serenity overtook my emotions, and that wave of numbness magically rolled in again. I didn’t want to be numb from this. I needed the pain to help me defend George.

  The monster’s black eyes honed in on me. I sensed the demented satisfaction it experienced from my anger. It climbed over George’s body like a wolf guarding its meal and begged me to engage. There was an almost recognizable disappointment in its unnatural expression when I finally quit resisting Gavyn.

  We stood powerless and defeated, allowing this thing to hover over George. It sluggishly lowered its face to his, hesitating so it could savor the moment. Everything went stale. The red glow faded, its screeches muted, and the room felt empty—void of anything human. The monster’s crooked ribs expanded under its burnt flesh, inhaling a deep breath. It snorted the breath back out its bony nostrils, choking on the air it had unrightfully stolen from the room.

  It breathed in again, deeper this time. Then, I saw it. A translucent substance snaked upward, streaming from George’s mouth into the demon’s boney nose. The substance leaving George resembled fluid, but it moved like smoke—weightless against gravity.

  The demon continued to inhale and exhale deeply, choking between extractions, stealing more of George’s essence each time. George’s body began to tremble and convulse beneath the monster, but the animation of his corpse was still unmistakably lifeless and empty.

  An unnerving bundle of emotions lashed at me again. “Is he okay? I thought he couldn’t feel anything anymore,” I questioned Gavyn, sobbing around my words.

  “His body is dead, Nevaeh, but his soul isn’t. He’s resisting. The soul struggles with the demons when they come. And the demons struggle with the fact that they have to transport a human’s soul inside them.”

  “So George is hurting?” I whimpered.

  Gavyn nodded. “This way is not an easy way to go. It’s not what God intended.” He spoke the words in a sad whisper. “The human soul is a pollutant to their kind. That’s why they look like that. What they really want is to devour human flesh, not the souls they are forced to gather and carry into Hell for their master. He has taken their mouths to deprive them of what they want most. They’ve become the epitome of envy and desperation.” Gavyn’s tone was almost sad for the demon feasting before us. “Their once human form has burned and melted away from the evil they have binged on over such long periods of time. They are the worst of the worst.”

  “George doesn’t deserve this,” I pleaded. I was mad at myself for accepting defeat so readily, but I didn’t understand what was going on. I wasn’t sure how to change it. I had to trust Gavyn. The outcome of this couldn’t change, regardless of my heart breaking into a million pieces.

  The demon emptied George of any last essence it could muster, his precious vapor lessening with each breath the demon took. His body’s convulsions quieted to shivers.

  “I can’t watch this anymore.” I spun around and buried my face into Gavyn’s che
st, listening for the last wheezy inhalation from the demon.

  A loud rumble shook the room. When I jerked my head up to see if the “taking” was finished, I noticed Gavyn staring at the ceiling instead. A grin, so slight that it was barely there, showed an ounce of new hope on his face. My heart beat faster in response to Gavyn’s change of expression. Anticipation exploded within me. Maybe he saw something that could stop this. The few seconds that passed were unbearable as I waited for him to let me in on his secret.

  “What’s going on? Can we free George?”

  “Look.” He nudged his chin upwards.

  The walls began to ripple around us like jelly. The rumble echoed throughout the apartment, growing steadily louder and more intense; even my bones vibrated. A gust of wind swirled through the room, propelling my hair in every direction. My skin puckered, and a shiver rose up my spine from the coolness of the wind whipping around us. The strength of the gust increased in speed and strength, carrying Gavyn’s magazines into the air and lifting George’s blankets off the futon, nearly sending them into flight.

  The ceiling’s smooth plaster surface blurred and began to shine like a watery reflection above us. Small waves undulated from a center point outward, pulsing from the thunderous booms. I searched Gavyn for any sign or gesture that could explain the pool developing in his living room, but he stood calm and confident with a knowing smile tugging at his mouth.

  I glanced down to see if the demon had finished prying George’s soul from his body. His corpse was alone on the floor, lifeless.

  I would never get that last moment back with him. No more jokes traded between us or hugs shared during hard times. George wasn’t there anymore; only a shell of wear and tear—not the father I loved for so many years. There was no intervening at this point—no miracle to save him.

  I found the demon crouched against the end of the futon, gawking up in fear at the expanding whirlpool on the ceiling. It lurched, choking through its bony nose as if there was food lodged in its throat that it couldn’t get out—couldn’t let out. The monster hunched over, gagging on the soul it had taken, desperately trying to vomit it up.

  Some gratification came with knowing that George’s soul was toxic to the being. Even if the demon wanted to let his soul go, its lips were literally sealed, forcing it to contain the excruciating essence.

  I latched onto what little enjoyment I could while the demon suffered. The wind slapped at my ears so hard that it drowned out Gavyn calling my name. He clutched my arm, getting my attention, and pointed to the ceiling.

  The whirling water churned more viciously now; the small swells escalated to large crashing waves, circling an inverted funnel. The need to run for cover surged through me. I wasn’t sure how, but a hurricane rearing its ugly face in the center of the room seemed entirely possible.

  The mysterious waters were angry above us. However, the swirling fluid seemed to retain itself enough to keep us safe from its impending destruction. Controlled disorder. With my eyes closed, I took a cleansing breath to clear my head in case this was one of those “focus, Nevaeh” kind of moments.

  I opened my eyes to see cool droplets of water trickling down toward us. A listless mist with big globules the size of pebbles floated from the ceiling. The repugnant odor from the demon subsided, and a more appealing aroma filled the room—a refreshing smell that sent chills of exhilaration through my body.

  The faded, red glow retracted, returning the colors of the apartment to their original hues. I let my head fall back and escaped in the sense of peace the new commotion brought. The cleansing moisture dampened my hair, sticking it against my face and neck. Tranquility engulfed my pain and caution. Surely, another devastating event was about to happen, but I took refuge in the glorious flow of power infiltrating the room.

  A final gust of wind sucked the water off my face like a vacuum, and all movement ceased. The floating droplets of water stilled, suspended without motion, just above my head; thousands of smooth, glassy beads of wetness strung up by invisible line.

  The beads held their positions, stuck in the air, anticipating a command that would allow them to continue in their intended paths to the floor. Small puddles on the hardwoods froze in mid-splash, yearning for the droplets to finish crashing into them, as was the natural sequence of these things.

  All was quiet. No rumbling noise and no rippling walls. Only the circular motion of the pool on the ceiling and the shuddering of the demon continued.

  Gavyn was at my side, his body rigid with expectation. “Wait,” he whispered.

  So much was running through my mind that it was difficult to keep a clear perception. I battled the constant notion to surrender to a much-needed mental breakdown. Hysteria was creeping out from the corner of my mind, but I forced myself to rein it in for a later time.

  The room suddenly flexed against a flare of amazing energy that knocked me off my feet. Breathing became harder as the air rushed out from the center of the opening above us and thickened, turning the room into a balloon almost ready to pop. Walls creaked from the pressure, and the static droplets began to quiver where they hung.

  Gavyn scrambled to help me stand again and started searching my body for injuries. I pushed the damp hair out of my face then swatted his hands away. But, when he grabbed my arm in an offer of support, I gave in. I needed him. I couldn’t go through this on my own.

  The monster groaned louder than I’d heard so far. My eyes darted to where I’d seen it last and found the fiend hunched over in pain, clawing the floor, heaving itself closer to the hole in the wall it had entered through.

  “He senses them coming. It won’t be long.” His face lit up with excitement.

  “Who is coming?” I wasn’t ready for any more surprises, especially the otherworldly kind. I grew irritated with his lack of explanations, but forced myself to trust Gavyn.

  The whirling pond over our heads, waking with movement moments before, was now motionless. The fluid appeared smooth and silver like mercury.

  Curiosity urged me closer to the pool, needing to see what was in it. I saw a reflection of myself with a puzzled expression. However, the longer I studied the liquid, the thinner the consistency got, becoming more and more transparent by the second.

  Gavyn tugged on my arm. “I think it’s time to move back.”

  I ignored his advice and leaned away from him, staring up into the center of the reflection. “Wait I…I think I see something.” I shoved his hands off me as I squinted up at the shiny surface, detecting an object moving on the other side. “I just want to see.”

  The movement resembled a bird diving for fish. Only, I saw what it must look like from the fish’s point of view; the blurry shape of something higher on the food chain jetting toward me.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  From Fire Below To Water Above

  “LOOK OUT!” Gavyn screamed, yanking on me hard enough to drag me down to my butt. I hit the floor just as a sharp, energy-packed bang rang into the atmosphere.

  Another, more intense pressure blasted outward from the center of the water. The walls buckled and splintered around us. Books toppled off the bookshelves, pictures jumped from their nails, and the furniture skid along the floor.

  The force flung me backward across the room in a seated position, my legs dragging in front of me as I slid. My body collided with Gavyn’s coffee table, the edge stabbing into the center of my back and expelling the breath from my lungs. I came to an abrupt stop when the table crashed into a wall, breaking my slide but shoving the corner harder into my spine.

  I gasped as a spike of pain drove up my vertebrae. My eyes moistened from the tears I was determined to hold back. I tried to move again but decided against it when the jolting ache in my back radiated to my legs.

  The pressure continued to build in the room at an unbearable pace. My lungs seemed to deflate more and more each time I gasped for air, preventing me from taking a sufficient breath. My lack of oxygen began to alter my vision, casting a foggy
blur everywhere I looked.

  Planted on the floor, slouched against the bent, metal frame of the coffee table, I rolled my head around to hunt for Gavyn—and some sign that he was still conscious. My sight was fading, but I was able to recognize the body slumped against a distant wall. He wasn’t lucid, but I could see his chest rising and falling. He was alive.

  My weak limbs stopped me from going to him, and with my lungs suffocating, I couldn’t even say his name. Panic set in. I was trapped inside the prison of my own brain, my body failing me.

  I attempted to rock myself off the floor, but what little movement I did manage only slid my torso sideways, landing me on the floor with my left arm pinned under my side and my legs twisted out in front of me.

  With my lungs nearly empty of air, each breath just a tiny hiccup of oxygen, thinking was becoming a chore. I lay immobile, expecting the end like a dying fish trapped ashore.

  The hard, wooden planks chilled my cheek as my head rested against the floor. I thought about how alone I was. George was gone, Gavyn was unconscious, and things were happening around me that I didn’t understand.

  My gaze flicked over the hardwoods, but a hazy mind, and a small puddle of water inches from my face, obscured my view from Gavyn and the monster. Tiny peaks from the splash extended up from the little patch of water and froze in position like statues, waiting for the world to resume movement.

  As the last bit of air left my body, blackness seeped in around the image of the small splash of water.

  I welcomed the ending. I begged for it to be quick, to take me away from this life. I accepted my fate, knowing that there was nothing left for me here. Painful yet loving memories of George surfaced, making me eager to leave. There would be no more happy times in my life without George, so why stay?

  Cool moisture sprinkled my face as a bead of water plopped into the puddle next to me. Fresh air whooshed back into the room. I sucked in an audible lungful of air, allowing it to infiltrate every asphyxiated part of my body. My muscles relaxed and tingled with the return of the oxygen they craved. I could, somewhat, focus again.