Falter

  I knocked on the wooden planks, using a rhythm designated as our “secret code”. A long pause followed while I gave George’s friend time to answer.

  “Who is it?” a voice asked from the other side of the door moments later.

  “It’s me, Vinney. It’s Nevaeh.”

  “Is anyone with you?” Vinney was paranoid from being robbed one too many times.

  I rolled my eyes and answered, “No.”

  “Where’s George?” The shake in his voice was a telltale sign of the tremors he’d acquired in the last three years.

  “Too much drinking,” George would say. I guess that was why they were such close friends. Vinney was about fifteen years older than George, but their drinking problems kept them tied to each other. Since he’d managed to control his need for liquor, I think George kind of assumed the role of his sponsor, constantly dragging Vinney out of his binges.

  “Well, where is he?” Vinney probed again impatiently.

  “Are you gonna let me in, or do I have to discuss this standing out here in the dark?”

  Chains rattled on the other side of the door. A few seconds later, Vinney pushed it open and poked his head around, lips curved in a toothless smile. He grabbed my elbow and hastily pulled me in, his jaundiced eyes searching behind me for any stalkers. His trembling hands took a minute to replace the chain, but I knew better than to offer help. In his mind, he was the only one that could do it correctly. I wouldn’t dare interfere with his sense of security.

  We walked in silence as I tailed him into the lower level of the huge factory. This was his mansion. He moved here years ago when the business closed. He’d worked in the building as a machine operator before he was laid off, so I guess he always felt at home here. Soon after they let him go, the company flopped belly up and shut its doors. Vinney caught wind of the owner’s demise and decided, since they were the reason he’d lost everything he’d owned, it was only right that he took the warehouse as his home. I couldn’t blame him. The beggars hadn’t taken over it yet, it was warm and secure, and he knew the layout enough to keep it that way.

  Vinney limped ahead of me, his cane tapping against the floor when he stepped. My eyes brushed over the rigged piece of pipe in his hand and remembered when George helped craft it into something that would help brace Vinney’s bum leg.

  I gulped back my overwhelming emotions and shook the memory from my mind, focusing on a frayed hole in Vinney’s jacket.

  Never really a big man, he looked even frailer than he did the time I saw him just a few months ago. A musty-sweet smell oozed from his knotty pores. “How’s the drinking going, Vinney?”

  “Pssh,” he swiped his hand through the air in rejection, “we haven’t visited in months, and you want to ask me about my demons?” I knew he wasn’t offended; he just didn’t want to fess up to the recent binge I sensed he had.

  “I’m concerned for you. That’s all.” I dropped the subject there, hoping that my mentioning it was enough for now.

  We made it to an old janitor’s quarters in the basement; this was Vinney’s favorite place to hide. Fortunately, whoever stayed there before left a decent cot and blankets. He motioned for me to sit on a stack of crates as he shuffled to a little metal trashcan in the center of the floor and stoked the struggling flames inside with a hollow pipe.

  “So, where is that old dog of yours?” His raspy chuckle played in the air, attempting to coax a smile from me.

  “Vinney,” I huffed, pinching the ring on my thumb and spinning it in fast circles. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but…,” the words felt thick and acidic on my tongue, “George died.”

  He laughed in disbelief. “Naw, really, where is he? I know how he likes to play jokes, but ya ain’t gonna git me this time.”

  I peered down at the gold band I couldn’t stop fidgeting with, quietly waiting for it to sink in. I don’t think he was the only one it was sinking into though. When he saw the trail of wetness run down my cheek, he finally accepted what I said.

  “My God in Heaven.” He stumbled down onto the cot, mindlessly slid his ratty cap down off his head, and clutched it against his chest. A quiver in his lower lip led to a mass of tears flooding the aged valleys of his face.

  I left my stack of crates and sat beside him, wrapping my arms around his shuddering shoulders. Any restraint on my own tears let loose, turning into sobs that stole the very breath from my lungs. We wept for our lost loved-one in the comfort of each other’s arms.

  This would be the only memorial George would get.

  Thankfully, Vinney never asked how. I didn’t think I had the strength to lie, but I didn’t want him to know the terrifying truth either. It was enough to know George was gone. Nothing else mattered.

  Eventually, I helped him lay down on the cot and covered him with the ragged blankets piled at his feet. “I’ll be back in a few days to check on you, Vinney. I’ll try to bring some clean clothes and food,” I whispered in his ear as he drifted to sleep.

  I roamed through the huge building in no immediate rush to leave, soaking up the solitude and listening to loose gravel and dirt crunching on the concrete under my feet. Having a good cry brought me a small token of peace—for now, anyway. After days of being smothered with craziness, I finally had a chance to come up for air.

  After I entered the cavernous upper level, I noticed a quick shuffling noise scraping against the dirt floor behind me. I stopped and examined my surroundings. It was just me and a lot of broken, rusty machines to the rear of the large room.

  Probably just some brittle nuts and bolts giving out.

  Yeah, that had to be it. Just keep telling yourself that, Nev.

  I ignored the angst burning an ulcer in my stomach and moved on.

  After a few more steps, a rock skipped across the floor to my right. I paused, listening closely while I scanned the area with my peripheral vision. No sudden movements. The only thing on that side of the warehouse was the smudged industrial windows hanging close to twenty-five feet over my head and the beam of moonlight filtering through them.

  The urge to scream lumped in my throat. My muscles tensed, and my feet planted firmly to the ground as I listened for more movement. “Hello?” I called out, attempting to sound as fearless as possible.

  Childlike giggling echoed against the steel walls.

  Dreadful recognition forced her name from my lips. “Layla.”

  I turned slowly, searching for her. Instead, I witnessed black, wispy forms stretch from the shadows and break away like sentient, sooty smoke floating along the walls and floor with an agenda I wasn’t quite sure of yet.

  The instant reflex to run triggered in my legs, but I refused. I had to be strong and stand up to her—and the demons haunting me.

  “What are you doing here?” I struggled to grasp my waning self-assurance. Bile scalded the back of my throat. The putrid odor wafting from the floating demons made my stomach toss and turn. “Answer me!” I shouted as vomit threatened to rise to my mouth.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. What’s the rush, Nevaeh?” Another smug giggle bounced off the high ceiling. “Got a hot date?”

  I couldn’t find her in the silvery hues of moonlight streaking the factory. The swimming blackness lurched closer, intensifying the sick feeling in my stomach. “What do you want?” I yelled, grabbing my roiling abdomen.

  “I already told you what I want. You’re not listening.”

  The black masses hissed as they slowly slithered toward me like snakes, preparing to strike.

  “It’s not my fault Gavyn doesn’t want you. Ever think you’re just too much of a bitch for him?” As the last words came from my mouth, Layla stepped out from behind the conveyer machine I passed by a minute before. Ire emanated from her porcelain skin, making her look perilously pretty.

  I couldn’t contain the puke stuck in my chest any longer. I doubled over and threw up. I felt defenseless.

  She sauntered in my direction, laughing. “Awe, poor baby. Can’t handle the evil ins
ide yourself?”

  “What are you talking about?” I huffed, wiping the remains of stomach fluids from my mouth.

  “Ah…no one’s told you yet.” She chortled arrogantly. “You’ve been marked, honey. They want you, too—though, I can’t understand why.”

  “Marked?” I forced myself to stand straight and slow my breathing, resisting the urge to puke again.

  “I knew they wanted you the moment I saw the brand on your forehead.”

  “The inverted cross?” I rubbed my fingers over the healed skin on my forehead and narrowed my eyes at her incredulously.

  Now only two feet away from me, I could see her baby-blue eyes had changed. A very subtle crimson ring outlined her crystalline irises. They were void of the personality I’d met my first day at the cafe. There was a corruption behind them now, one that gave way to a dangerous power flaring in her soul.

  She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Cliché, I know, but it works. It’s easily recognizable when we’re looking for recruits but indistinct enough that the denser idiots won’t think twice about it and cause problems.” She took off her denim jacket and dropped it on the ground, then rolled up the pink, silky sleeve on her left arm. There was an inverted cross on her forearm. It seemed to glow red-hot under her smooth skin, lighting her flesh like a flashlight was shining through it. “You see, baby cakes, we are sisters. Whether we like it or not,” she added with distaste in her tone, “And once you choose to be one of us, we can all live happily ever after.”

  “I am not your sister,” I snarled. “Don’t ever forget that.”

  From the corner of my eye, I noticed the black silhouette of her body moving on the floor behind her, but she wasn’t moving at all. Several of the wispy, shapeless figures broke free of her shadow and began creeping across the ground toward me, expanding and multiplying as they floated closer.

  In an instant, I kicked my legs into gear and ran faster than I ever ran before.

  “Get her!” Layla shouted to the shapeless clouds. The smoky clumps slithered off the wall and joined the forms on the floor chasing me. I glance over my shoulder to see them forming one big mass of pitch-black wind. They rushed in from all sides and encircled me, spinning around me as I ran. My hair lashed and stung my face. The demon storm grew stronger and faster, trapping me in its center.

  “You can’t run forever, Nevaeh. Eventually, you’ll have to make a choice. No point in putting it off,” she bellowed over the whirring winds.

  The smoky beings surrounding me amplified my sickly urges. My stomach knotted and cramped, rejecting their presence. I fought to keep the sour bile down. I only remembered seeing five of the demons crawl from the shadows, but together, their cyclone of fury extended all the way to the ceiling.

  Layla’s voice pierced through the whirling monsters. “Just make a choice, and this could all be over.”

  Paralyzed by sickness and absolute disgust of the things spiraling around me, I fell to my knees and retched uncontrollably.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I panted between yaks, “but I do know that I’ll never choose the side that you’re on.”

  The bitterness and utter rage radiating from the ghostly demons closed around my throat like a fist. An invisible, evil weight pressed down on me, grinding my knees into the rough gravel.

  “Go ahead. Fight it. You will change your mind.” Layla’s snooty tone dared me to protest. It was almost as if she wanted me to suffer the consequences of denying whoever wanted me so badly.

  Layla mumbled something in a language I couldn’t understand. The demon cyclone replied with sharp hisses and sniggers. Deformed, ghostly faces, resembling the one I’d seen at the hospital, darted out of the funnel and shot through me like arrows.

  They entered and exited my body relentlessly. My bones creaked and ached, yielding as much as they could from the invasion of the large masses without shattering to bits. I screamed from the intolerable pressure of them shifting my organs around and threatening to gut me where I kneeled.

  Morbid visions of my broken corpse, lying bloody and scattered on the warehouse floor, stunned me into focus. I had to get out of here.

  Rigid and dizzy from the abuse, I tensed my muscles, forcing myself upright, and leaned back on my feet. With my hands fisted at my sides, I held my breath and bared down against the floor, using what little strength I had left in an attempt to expel the demons inside me.

  My heart pounded, pumping blood hard through my veins, vying to keep me alive. I sucked in a gulp of air and lunged back down on all fours with no success at stopping the demons.

  Agonized groans erupted from my mouth. My limbs shook and wavered under my weight as I tried to regain the will to fight. It would be so easy to give up at this point.

  They jerked me back and forth like a piece of meat in a tug-of-war game between starving dogs. I fixed my blurry eyes on one spot ahead of me, barely able to see the wall beyond their murky forms. I waited for the moment I could make a move but wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

  Finally, an opening.

  A path to the door was clear for about two seconds. That was all I needed. I figured, if they can get through me, then I could get through them. I heaved myself off the floor, stumbling from side to side as they attacked my weak body.

  Once I got enough footing under me, I ran like hell. A resistance, similar to a film of Jell-O with thorns in it slowed my escape as I propelled through the storm of demons, but I endured the pain and shoved through.

  Bursting out, my eyes landed on the exit, and I sprinted forward.

  Nearing the emergency door, I slowed to a clumsy jog and squinted. There was something in front of the chained boards; a sparking, transparent film hanging between me and my freedom. If it hadn’t been for the thin, orange bolts of electricity snapping within the substance every few seconds, I doubt I would have noticed it.

  I glanced back at the ghostly demons gliding across the floor after me. They were gaining fast. No other doors were close enough. I’d never make it in time. I didn’t know what was in front of the exit, and I really didn’t want to find out, but my options were limited.

  I tried to veer in the direction of the front entrance, but instead fell on my side and slid uncontrollably across the ground. Skid marks trailed in the dirt behind me. Gravel and dust tore my palms open as I dug my hands into the floor, hoping to stop myself before slamming into the sparking substance in front of the door.

  I tumbled ass over elbow, finally coming to a stop, but I was already too close to the mysterious film. It was too late.

  A deep fire began to consume me, charring my core from the inside out. I tried to scuttle backwards but couldn’t. The unseen tendrils of a wicked and hungry power wrapped around my ankles, raking me closer to the flickering wall.

  The heat inside heightened as it spilled from my center, surging into every available space in my body. My blood boiled, and muscles contracted mercilessly around my already aching bones. I coughed and sputtered, my chest blazing as if I could exhale flames like a dragon.

  I rolled and clawed at the ground, trying to loosen the force’s hold on me, but the movement only deepened the searing sensation beneath my flesh.

  Screams exploded from my mouth so intense that my voice sounded alien. I glanced at my hands, expecting to see blisters forming from the smoldering inside, but my skin was intact and smooth.

  Was this all an illusion, one of those things I needed to “see” my way through?

  Bound by the torment of solar flares igniting within me, my brain refused to let me think about anything other than the agony ripping through my nerve endings. I was losing focus fast.

  As I lay on the ground, completely immobilized, Layla’s frame edged into my vision. She leaned closer to examine me. The confusion on her face was not what I’d expected. I assumed she would be thrilled to witness the slow death I was experiencing.

  She considered the demons starting to float over my body like a deadly smog
with pursed lips, then mumbled another command in their language. The creatures instantly scurried away.

  The expression on her face softened, a glint of concern creasing her brow. “What the hell, Nevaeh?” She had no idea what was going on either.

  Shock flooded my emotions. I had no idea where my fate would end. At least when Layla was a possible cause of…whatever this was…I knew she could stop this. But she wasn’t. There was no telling when I might find release from this agony—if there was release.

  With all hope drained from me, and Layla staring at me curiously, I accepted that this might be my end. If I couldn’t beat the invisible energy sucking me in, the sheer torture of it would kill me soon.

  Ideas of a future with Gavyn teased my heart while I drifted closer to unconsciousness. Would he end up with Layla, clueless to her true nature and intentions? Would the demons take my soul as they did George’s?

  I forced my gaze to the electric film again and watched the murky forms that had chased me disappear around the edges of the substance like smoke rolling under a door. A quick flash of the Animus demon coming out of the wall in Gavyn’s living room popped into my head.

  Oh shit, this thing is a portal!

  Where would it take me? Besides that, if I could even muster enough strength to pull myself away from its grip, how would I get past Layla?

  I’d have to choose the less threatening of the two evils. Layla’s sudden conscience couldn’t be trusted. Who knew when she would get the urge to call the demons back to finish me off?

  I tried to work through the raging blaze inside my body one last time. I gritted my teeth and forced myself up onto my elbows, then plopped over on my side, managing to roll a few inches closer to the portal. Red-hot tingling surged through my hand as I lifted it and reached into the sparking façade to grab the doorknob beyond.

  A loud crackle rang in my ears. The hand that entered the sticky, hot goo stung like a million amps electrified me to the bone, and then it disintegrated. I couldn’t pull away.

  Oh my God, what have I done?