The Glooming (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 1)

by John Triptych

Everyone’s eyes locked in on him. Nobody else said anything.

  Malcolm continued, “Carnac, in Brittany. I’m sure you three are familiar with that site because it happens to be very similar to Stonehenge. While not arranged in a circle like the stones we have here, the menhirs in Carnac are of the same age as the stones in this site. Last night, the French government reported seeing huge groups of people just like these over in Carnac, and they immediately sent in all available police units to the area.”

  “Go on,” Sir Wilfred said.

  “Sometime close to midnight, the authorities lost contact with their police units that had been sent to the area, and observers from several miles away reported seeing strange lights emanating from the Carnac site that reached up into the sky. A heavy fog soon settled into the area and there were no reports of anyone coming out. Additional police units were sent in, but none of them came back or reported in, and now the French government is enacting a state of emergency over the entire province as well as a media blackout,” Malcolm said.

  “Good god,” Sir Wilfred said. “Why wasn’t this in the news earlier then?”

  “There were media personnel in the Carnac site that went in with the police, but their own news organizations have lost contact with them as well,” Malcolm said. “The French government has seized all their video and audio recordings before the time of the incident in order to prevent widespread panic, while their military units have set up a perimeter just outside the affected zone.”

  “A-are we in any danger?” Megan said.

  “I believe that once we get in additional reinforcements, we can disperse this crowd and all will be well,” Malcolm said calmly.

  Paul crossed his arms. “You can’t be sure of that. And how do you even know that whatever caused the incident in Carnac was caused by the crowds of people?”

  Malcolm looked at him with bored resignation. “The whole incident in Carnac happened only after the crowds were already there, so logic suggests that whatever caused it was certainly triggered by the masses of people. If we can just get these hippy tossers out of—”

  His words were interrupted by a loud crash as well as shouts coming from outside. As everyone rushed out of the tent, they realized the crowds had begun to rush the perimeter to try to reach the circle of stones. The constables tried their best, but there was just too many of them as huge numbers of laughing and screaming people began to get through. Megan gasped.

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” Paul shouted at Sir Wilfred as he grabbed a hold of Megan’s arm and the three of them started running towards the nearest police car. The old man could barely keep up as he hobbled along with his walking stick.

  The crowd surged into them like a swarm of ants. Megan screamed as Paul lost his grip on her arm. Sir Wilfred tried to swing his walking stick, but the people just started running over him as he fell over. Paul couldn’t withstand the crush either as he was pushed to the ground, just as people were trying to go past him in their relentless quest to reach the inner ring of stones. As someone stepped on his ribcage, Paul let out a yell. A split second later, someone grabbed hold of his arm and started to pull him up.

  It was Constable Steve. His uniform was torn and he had a gash on his forehead, but he was able to get both Paul and Sir Wilfred upright as there seemed to be a gap in the surge. “You both go on, I’ll try to get Megan and bring her out of here, sir.”

  Paul clapped him tightly on the shoulder for a brief second before taking Sir Wilfred by the arm and getting to the car. As they got inside, he noticed the people around them had thinned as most of the crowd was already at the inner ring of Stonehenge. The masses were heaped on top of each other like a stack of squirming, white-sheeted ghosts as they clambered into the inner circle. Megan was nowhere to be seen.

  Sir Wilfred was able to get his car door closed just as Paul started up the engine. “Good god,” the old man said.

  As the police car started on down the road, Paul noticed more people coming up from the highway. There must have been tens of thousands of them and more on the way. He quickly turned and started driving through the farmlands towards the south, hoping he wouldn’t have to hit anyone along the way. As he kept driving, he noticed a flash of light in his rearview mirror.

  “Oh my god,” Sir Wilfred said as he turned around to see what was happening while Paul kept one eye in front and another at the rearview mirror.

  It had seemed the Neolithic stones in the circle had begun to glow with a pale green radiance. Within seconds, a gigantic column of light shot up from the center of the ring and into the night sky. Then a massive wave of blinding energy began to radiate outwards with a gargantuan shockwave that hit the rear of the police car and sent it tumbling forward like a piece of paper caught in the wind.

  Paul let out a curse while gripping the steering wheel as the car overturned. The last thing he heard was Sir Wilfred’s scream.

  3. Pampered Pets

  Arizona

  Sandra McLeod and Jennifer Haggard were always a pair. Even when they were just children, they attended the same schools, became part of the same cheerleading squad in high school, and married husbands with very similar outlooks back in the 1980’s. Both couples never had any children because Sandra’s husband Donald was diagnosed with a low sperm count, while Jennifer’s husband Joshua just didn’t want any. Since both women needed companionship at home while their spouses were at work, they both became very proud and very particular pet owners and that’s where they differed, because Sandra liked dogs and Jennifer preferred cats. So when Sandra called Jennifer up and asked her to come by her house that afternoon to see her new pet Chihuahua, Jennifer asked if it was safe to bring along her beloved Siamese cat Oodles. Sandra said it wouldn’t be a problem and so the date was set.

  As Sandra pulled her sedan into the driveway, she hoped Jennifer hadn’t come too soon and had possibly left after she saw the house was empty. That was because Sandra just had to get her hair and nails done at the salon over at the nearby strip-mall. But that got delayed by over an hour because her beloved manicurist was out sick with a headache, and the receptionist had assigned a Vietnamese woman to do her nails that day. Naturally, Sandra had protested and didn’t want the hands of an “oriental refugee” touching hers and so demanded they get somebody else to do it. The manager sighed and then asked another manicurist to take over, but Sandra wouldn’t have it either since the replacement was a full-blooded Navajo, so she just sat on the black leather salon chair and waited with a sneer. The manager finally drove over to her personal manicurist’s apartment to pick her up from her sick bed and bring her back.

  Sandra looked at her perfectly manicured hands just before opening the front door to her house. Her lacquered red nails had a nice crimson sheen to them and she was sure the other two were supposed to replace her personal stylist would have certainly botched the job. She had been going to that salon for years and they owed her the best service they could give, since she was obviously their best costumer.

  As she closed the door behind her, Sandra immediately went into the kitchen and placed her handbag on the marble countertop before checking that the little sandwiches she had made for Jennifer were ready in the fridge. The cucumbers were crisp and the bread wasn’t soggy yet, so she took the tray out and placed it on the counter. With the snacks ready, she immediately started to look for her beloved pet. She needed to make sure the dog was still properly groomed since she took it to the pet salon only yesterday.

  “Bibsy, where are you? Bibsy!” Sandra shouted across the house as she tried to imitate a puppy voice. Her beloved beagle Snoopers had died just under two weeks ago after being faithfully by her side for fifteen years. For a few days after that, she was inconsolable to the point where she wouldn’t see anybody, not even Jennifer, and stayed in the house and didn’t leave her bedroom for over a week. Donald had to take time off from his corporate law practice just to bring takeout food to her.

  Right on cue, the little brown-furre
d Chihuahua came running over to her. It had large, bat-like ears, an apple-shaped head and slightly bulging eyes. Its coat was cut very short because Sandra told the groomers to please keep it as short as possible. Summer days tended to get hot in Scottsdale and she didn’t want the poor little thing to die of heatstroke. As Sandra picked it up, she gave it a little kiss on its nose and examined its body. Everything looked great except the smidgen of excrement on its butt.

  “Oh, you dirty little dog!” Sandra said as she took her pet to the bathroom and unrolled a few sheets of scented toilet paper and wiped the dog’s backside. As she flushed her handiwork down the toilet, the doorbell rang. Sandra immediately yelped for joy as she took Bibsy in her left arm and hid the dog behind her while walking towards the door.

  “Good afternoon, beautiful!” Jennifer said as she held out her left arm for a hug as they met at the open door. Both middle-aged women gave each other a kiss on the cheek.

  “How are you, Jen?” Sandra grinned as she noticed Jennifer was carrying her Siamese cat in a carrier bag with her right arm. “Come on in!”

  Both women walked into the living room after Sandra closed the front door behind them. It was a good thing Bibsy stayed quiet so she could surprise her best friend with it.

  Jennifer put down the pet carrier near the rug as she looked around. “Oh my, I love what you’ve done with the place, Sandy! Your new living room is gorgeous!”

  Sandra laughed. “Why thank you, Jen. Guess what else I’ve got?” she said as she pulled out Bibsy.

  “Oh, how cute! What a cute little puppy!” Jennifer exclaimed as she massaged Bibsy’s head.

  Sandra laughed. “Actually he’s not a puppy. The breeder I bought him from said he was already two years old, in dog years that makes him fourteen.”

  “But he looks so small! It is a he, right?”

  “Yes, he is,” Sandra said as she gave Jennifer the dog before heading to the kitchen. “Hang on to him, I’m going to get the coffee and sandwiches I made.”

  Jennifer liked her coffee with just a little milk in it so that’s exactly what she received as both women sat down on the new white leather sofa Sandra’s husband got her as an anniversary present.

  “Have you been watching the news lately?” Jennifer said as she nibbled on a cucumber sandwich.

  Sandra had Bibsy on her lap and was stroking its head. “Not today, I’ve been soo busy! Can you believe the beauty parlor actually replaced my manicurist with a gook today? It was just horrible. I don’t think I’ll ever go to that place again … they’re hiring way too many foreigners and aliens. Where do you go to have your nails and hair done these days?”

  “Over at Eden Hair and Nails, near the airport. I’ll give you the address. I know the owner and she only hires whites.”

  Sandra sat back on the couch. “Oh, that’s a relief. This country is going to the dogs. Did I tell you that the third house across the street a Latino family moved into? I was in shock! I can’t believe those wetbacks can afford to live in this neighborhood.”

  “They’re drug dealers, I bet. It’s the only way Mexicans can make money; they just don’t have the intelligence to be doctors or lawyers like your husband is. Josh told me he booked a beaner dealer the other day after a drug sting and the thug tried to bite him! Can you believe that?”

  “Oh those people are animals. I hope he’s okay.”

  Jennifer laughed. “Oh, Josh is fine. My husband is the toughest man I know. Naturally he beat up the guy so badly, the criminal had to be taken to the hospital, but Joe’s partner covered for him so there won’t be an investigation. They just said he tried to resist arrest during the raid.”

  Sandra nodded. “Good for him, I hope they deport that thug. Or even better send him to death row. There’re so many wetbacks coming across the border now and that stupid president of ours won’t even call the National Guard to help us.”

  “Oh, tell me about it. Since you didn’t hear the news today, I’ll go ahead and bring you up to date. The latest reports say that the number of people trying to cross our borders has gone up over five times in the past few weeks. It’s a deluge of brown crap heading straight for us!”

  Sandra put her hand over her mouth. “That’s terrible, Jen! And still nothing doing from our president?”

  “Not a damned word. But then again, you know what they say, he himself is a Muslim alien who wasn’t even born here. With the way he’s acting, I definitely believe it. I think he wants to bring the illegals in so he can get a third term.”

  “I believe that too. Also, the news did give us an update on the multiple airline crashes on the radio when I was on my way to the salon. That scared me to death, Jen.”

  Jennifer’s eyes widened. “Oh? I must have missed that since I was just keeping up with the illegal alien news. What happened last night? You said six airliners crashed?”

  “Seven, actually. There was another unconfirmed airline crash last night, it was a red eye from Seattle and it disappeared over the Pacific. The news said that the FAA might be planning to ground all commercial air travel in the country until they find out what happened.”

  “Oh my god!” Jennifer said. “That’s hundreds of people dead! How awful.”

  “Yes, it must be those Muslim terrorists again.” Sandra said. “I just can’t believe we don’t just arrest every single raghead and put them in camps or something. They want to kill anyone who isn’t one of their own. Our Muslim president just lets them do whatever they want. Donald told me if he was president, he would have used nuclear weapons against the entire Middle East the moment he got sworn in. Turn the whole region to ash and be done with it.”

  Jennifer nodded. “If Donald runs for office he has my vote. It’s those leftists and the liberals. It’s their fault alright. They’re the ones who want to let in all the illegals, plus they want gay marriage and they want all those black criminals released from jail. And those fags are truly disgusting and it’s against the Bible. I tell you Sandy, they’ll destroy this country if we don’t stand up to them and right now. They’re race traitors and communists, that’s what Josh told me and I think he’s right.”

  The Chihuahua seemed restless so Sandra let go of it. The dog immediately leaped off the couch and began sniffing at the pet carrier that Jennifer left on the floor. Sandra looked at her dog with obvious pride. “Isn’t he so cute? Look, he’s not even barking at Oodles. I think they’ll be great friends.”

  Jennifer looked down at them and smiled. “Let’s give them a few more minutes before I let Oodles out, she may start a fight and run all over the place. If that happens, we’ll be here all day and night trying to get her back in the carrier. Where did you buy that dog anyway?”

  “Oh, I got it from a breeder over at Flagstaff when Donald and I visited there a few weeks back after Snoopers died. The breeder said that this particular dog was from a litter he got at the Navajo Nations reservation. I don’t normally take in pets raised by those redskins, but when I looked at him and he looked at me with those lovely big eyes I just couldn’t resist,” Sandra said as she winked and blew a kiss at the dog.

  “I agree, I hate those Indians too. They’re nothing but welfare addicts and drunks. They did nothing at all but drag this country down when it was the whites that built everything. They’re no different than the blacks but at least they don’t riot, that’s the only good thing I can say about them.”

  Sandra looked at her approvingly. “You’re right, those blacks are another problem. Did you see the riots on TV last night? Those coons are choking the life out of all the big cities all over the country. Thank the Lord there aren’t a whole lot of Negroes here. They should all be shipped back to Africa where they belong. That reminds me, will you be going to the anti-immigration rally next week?”

  “I don’t know if I can, Josh might have a hearing he has to attend because he beat up two drunken Indians last year near the reservation, so he’s under investigation by Internal Affairs again, so if I go join that rally, thos
e liberals might use it against him. It’s too bad though, I really want to go,” Jennifer said.

  “If someone ought to be exiled from these lands then it should be the two of you along with your evil husbands, you bigoted old hags,” a tiny voice said.

  Jennifer shrieked and dropped her half empty cup onto the mahogany coffee table, its lukewarm contents spraying the rug underneath it. Sandra nearly choked on her sandwich as she too dropped bits of cucumber, mayonnaise, and bread on the couch. For a long minute both women just stared at each other.

  It was Jennifer who first started talking. Her eyes had widened like saucers. “D-did you hear that?”

  Sandra’s mouth was open, but she didn’t say anything, she merely nodded.

  “Wh-what was that?” Jennifer said. Her voice carried a touch of fear and hysteria.

  Sandra immediately got up and started examining the couch and the nearby furniture. “I think Donald must have left an open mobile phone here somewhere, it must be some kind of trick.”

  “The only trick is how monsters like you two can have everything you’ve ever wanted and yet still hate those that are different, no wonder the gods are displeased,” the voice said.

  Jennifer grabbed at her curly bleach blonde hair and screamed as Sandra frantically looked around. From the proximity of the sound, the voice came from within the living room, in fact, it seemed like it was right next to them.

  Sandra looked at Jennifer with a growing fear in her eyes. “Who’s saying that?”

  Jennifer said nothing as her mouth was agape, drops of saliva drooling down from it. Her shaking index finger was pointed near the edge of the rug.

  Sandra turned and looked down, but all she could see was Jennifer’s pet carrier on the carpet and her dog sitting on its hind legs right beside it. “Where?”

  Jennifer was stammering. It was clear she was starting to lose it. “I-it’s your dog!”

  Sandra looked at her in disbelief before facing Bibsy again. “Are you crazy? Dogs can’t talk. He’s just an animal. God decreed that only mankind can talk.”