by Weston Ochse
Danny shook his head.
“Believe it or not, I used to be quite the man. Women wanted me. Men were afraid of me. And oh yeah, kids wanted to be just like me. I tell you true, boy! They wanted to be just like me.”
Danny grinned, glancing over at Maxom. For a long second he imagined him with two arms and two legs, whole and impressive. Then the image dissolved back to the scars and the nubs of truncated limbs. He looked quickly away.
“Whoa whooaa! Wait a minute, kid. Don’t look at me and think about yourself. There ain’t nothing in this world as evil as the Goddamned VC. What they did can never be reversed. But your folks…” Maxom licked his lips and lowered his head. “Even with what your Mom said, this ain’t a done deal. This can be fixed. The thing seems to be that we need to prove to her that your Dad wasn’t part of this stuff your sister wrote about…this nastiness.”
Maxom put his hand on Danny’s shoulder.
“There are ways, my young friend. Ever hear of the Hardy Boys? How about Shaft? See, what we need is a plan, and Shaft was the man with the plan if you know what I mean.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll brainstorm. You go into the kitchen and start on the dishes and I’ll write down what you say.”
Danny wiped his eyes. He was doubtful, but didn’t see anything else to do. He stood and plodded off into the kitchen.
Maxom called after him. “What do you mean you never heard of Shaft? Don’t you ever watch television? Where do you think James Bond learned to be so cool? That stiff-ass Brit couldn’t get that smooth without someone teaching him the way of things. Damn,” he concluded, drawing out the word. “Everyone knows who Shaft is!”
* * *
The lights blurred and elongated as he raced by a thousand living things. Gathering speed, he hurtled faster, faster and faster until the universe blurred to abstraction. All points of reference were lost. Up and down disappeared. He was the bullet shot from the end of a mind-made pistol. Direction and distance were unknown quotients in a ballistic formula calculated using entirely different mathematical and scientific principles, these unique and non-conforming to the more commonplace dimensions. Finally, Danny reached the point where his fear superceded his joy and he commanded a stop. And as was the physics of this singular universe, he stopped immediately, the idea of momentum, but a myth to be told to the very young in an attempt to explain away the impossible.
He’d arrived at a nexus unfamiliar to him. Partially lit, this was an opposite of the blinding light that was Chattanooga’s center. The Rivers that should be radiating from it like the forks of a wheel were intermittent here. One in three was dark, dull currents whose sight left him itching along his spine. This was not a friendly place.
Life pads spoke of neighborhoods and neighbors. In the far distance, he could make out other nexi, each of these brighter than the one before him. The itching along his spine increased. He glanced at the Dark Sun and was relieved for its presence. In the wan light of this city, its darkness was a brighter energy.
Did you have to go so damned fast? Jesus.
Danny turned to see the silvery figure of Maxom coming up swiftly behind him.
Your choice of destination could’ve been better. Maxom looked around. Come on. Let’s get out of here.
Danny ignoring Maxom’s entreaty. He stared at the wrongness of the place. What is it? What happened?
That is very very complicated. Lo Lo didn’t teach me of this, merely hinted at it. Let’s go.
Who are you afraid of? asked Danny. He shifted his vision. Beneath the life pads and the nexus was a harsh urban landscape. Many of the buildings were in ruins. Whoa. What happened here?
We need to get out of here.
But what happened?
Depression. Loss. By the way you came, I think we’re somewhere in West Virginia. Probably the closing of the coal mines.
What are those? asked Danny, pointing to a queer mobile darkness.
Aw Jesus. And so many of them.
Are we in danger?
In Vietnam, I saw those on the edges of battlefields or in villages where atrocities had occurred. Unlike the rest of things in The Land, the Chill Blaines can see you. And when they see you, they’re gonna try and get you.
Chill Blaines?
You know the bumps that pop up all along your arms and the back of your neck when you get scared? White folks call them goosebumps. We call them Chill Blaines. These are the creatures that cause them.
What are they after?
Us. Humans. Chill Blaines prey on the weak.
We aren’t weak, Maxom. Come on. We can always run if they come after us.
Before Maxom could respond, Danny had moved forward gliding over the city, his body a silver-match to Maxom’s.
Damn kid’s gonna get us both killed, Maxom muttered. When he caught up, he said, When they see us, and they will, you shoot back towards home just as fast as you can. These are the ghosts I told you about and they’re not something to play with.
What will you do?
Me? I’m gonna draw them off. You’re a good kid, but you’re nothing to Chill Blaines, especially those hunting in packs.
I can take care of myself.
I’m not kidding, Danny. These things will kill you.
Danny was close enough to make out details now. The Chill Blaines were human-like. But the edges of their forms were ragged, as if they’d been torn away from a greater source. Where the chosen forms of Maxom and Danny were of a reflective mercuric fluid, these creatures were darkness, consuming light as they moved.
About a dozen crept along the ground, as if they could interact with the real world on a substantial level. Several others floated. All were heading for a small cluster of life pads which Danny’s bi-part vision identified as a group of people huddled around a dumpster in an alley. Some were rooting around inside the container, others were outside. All seemed to be searching for something, probably food or some cast-off to sell so they could buy food. They were oblivious to the approach of Chill Blaines who were visible only in The Land.
Danny tried to move forward, but Maxom stopped him.
No. Let it happen, he said, softly. Watch, so that you can understand.
The Chill Blaines spread out and surrounded their prey. After several moments, they swarmed and attacked. Danny wanted so cry out, to warn the humans, but he heeded Maxom’s warning. So strange. The people in the alley didn’t even seem to notice they were being consumed. They went about their business as if nothing was happening. Danny switched back to the vision of The Land and saw the people’s life pads lose brightness as the Chill Blaines latched on. He switched his vision again and saw the people sag and stumble, suddenly weakened. The creatures were like vampires, sucking away energy, their heads dipping in and out of the life pads like hungry wolves lapping at water.
Lo Lo said they’re the cause of catastrophe and war and everything bad. I think maybe they are the result. There was a time when I saw one leave a River of light. Bright at first, it darkened the farther away it got from the River. The thing acted as if it had escaped, and tore off into The Land. I never saw it again, but it made me wonder of the nature of the Nexus and the Rivers.
One of the humans staggered into the side of the large metal dumpster hard enough to draw blood. He grabbed the wound on his scalp and sat down, heavily. Several of the Chill Blaines left their own prey and pounced on the wounded man. Danny watched in The Land as the creatures finally moved on, the life pad drained of all light. He knew without switching his vision that the man lay dead in the alley.
I don’t think they’re really strong enough to kill a healthy person. You have to be close to death. I saw soldiers who were chewed on for days survive to make it to a medivac chopper.
Maxom? Danny pointed behind them.
Maxom turned and looked. Another group of Chill Blaines moved over a dark section of the nexus. Then another and another. Maxom turned a full circle and saw eight separate groups. They’d become surroun
ded.
A shrill keening pierced The Land of Inside-Out. Like the call of a great bird, it drew attention to itself. Both Danny and Maxom spun toward the sound. They’d been noticed. This Chill Blaine was close enough for Danny to make out rough features in the surface of the creature. But as soon as he’d pin down a nose or a mouth, it would disappear in a swirl of darkness. It was as if the essence that made it was still in the process of creation, roiling within a dark carnivorous shell.
Danny shot off into the blue of The Land, picking a space between two groups of hunting Chill Blaines. As he drew near, he saw the gap between them closing. He poured on a burst of speed and almost made it through. He struck one, slicing through its body like sludge along the shore of the lake. It slowed him, the sticky surface tugging at every part.
Ignoring his revulsion, he concentrated harder, reversed direction and shot straight up towards the Dark Sun. It took a few moments, but eventually the Chill Blaine released its hold. He turned his head and stared down at its receding form.
The creature’s touch had been a miasma of pain and misery. It had taken away part of Danny. He felt weak. He shuddered and allowed himself to drift for a moment as he collected himself.
Finally, Danny turned to go, concentrating on forward movement. He only managed a little distance, however, before he was snapped back. He concentrated harder and made a little more headway.
Glancing over his shoulder he saw the Dark Sun, larger than he’d ever seen it before. Its magnetic pull seemed determined to keep him. That was why the creature hadn’t followed him. It knew of the danger, understanding far better than Danny.
He tugged and he pulled, crying out in frustration as every effort sent him sliding back. He was as stuck as a fish on a line, being reeled inextricably in by a thing more powerful than anything he’d ever encountered. He might have made it, had it not been for the Chill Blaine. The earlier interaction, however brief, had leeched enough energy from him to make the difference.
Then an idea hit him. He would change his form. He’d chosen earlier to become like Maxom, but he could’ve become anything. It was simplicity and the desire to please that had made him conform. He could still see the Chill Blaine below. It had turned and was once again back to hunting, searching out small pieces of humanity on which to feed. There was still a chance.
Danny changed, reordering himself until he was as long and as slender as a rope. Leaving one end of his new being to be pulled into the Dark Sun, he willed the other to shoot out towards the Chill Blaine, lengthening and lengthening until, filament thin, he was stretched to his limit. He brushed the side of the dark creature. Like a fish, it spun and latched on, feeling Danny’s life force. And with Danny, it began to ascend toward the Dark Sun.
The Chill Blaine would have none of it, and began to thrash like a wild trout. The creature wanted only to return to its feeding grounds. Before it could escape, Danny stretched himself even farther and wrapped himself around the thing’s middle. The increased contact with the creature sent shudders through Danny’s psyche as he felt the pulsing sponge-like exterior sucking at him, consuming his being. He wanted desperately to release himself, but knew that if he did, it would be his demise. His mind would be gone, while his body forever slept.
So Danny gripped tighter. Although the creature was stronger, this new form allowed him more power and better balance. Danny tried to control the struggles of the Chill Blaine. Each jerk and dash for freedom was accentuated by the length until Danny’s entire body leapt with undulations of escape. In the end, it was their combined strength that saved them. Tugging and pulling furiously, the creature, stronger than Danny and farther from the magnetic pull of the Dark Sun’s power, dragged Danny with him. Danny in turn assisted, contracting like an inch-worm upon himself. Before long, they were both free from the gravitational pull. Danny prepared for battle, but the creature had had enough. The Chill Blaine, once released, took off into The Land of Inside-Out.
As relief suffused him, the fear he’d held at bay seeped through enough to remind him of how close he’d come to dying. Sometimes the Land of Inside-Out seemed like a game. But no more. He’d witnessed the vile attacks of the Chill Blaines on the unsuspecting people of the nexus. He’d watched as the creatures had attacked and suckled on the pads of the living. He’d been trapped by the pull of the Dark Sun and only because of his father and all those days of trout fishing had he enough sense to save himself. More fear seeped through as he wondered what would have happened had he been sucked into the Dark Sun. He shuddered. Death had never been so near.
Danny, looked for Maxom, but didn’t see him anywhere. Nor did he see the Chill Blaines, who were also gone. He must have drawn the Chill Blaines away. Danny headed in the direction of home, hoping that Maxom was okay.
As he swung wide of the tainted Nexus, he watched a Chill Blaine attach itself to a lone child standing at a cross-walk on an empty street.
* * *
Chattanooga, Tennessee
The sound of Maxom’s uneven gait along the empty hospital corridor was eerie with its tap tap, scrape, tap, tap, scrape. It was Danny holding the larger man’s hand that kept him from slipping on the waxed linoleum. Several nurses and more than a few patients did double-takes at the strange sight of the small white boy helping along the scarred black man who had to lean forward to maximize the effectiveness of his prosthetics.
Danny glanced up and into Maxom’s face.
“I know boy. I know. If it’s her, we’ll find a way to get her out of there.”
Danny faced forward once more and nodded, remembering the ending of the crazed conversation he’d just had with Bergen.
“Don’t you see it? Don’t you understand?” Bergen had asked. His eyes were goldfished behind his glasses. “Fate and destiny. They’re the same thing.”
“No, I don’t, understand. What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense.”
“Why do you think we painted Greg’s car? Why do you think I got beaten up? Why do you think The Maggot Man saved me and took me to the hospital. No Sense?” Maxom shook his head and smiled. “It’s plain and simple, Danny. The only reason these events happened was so that I would be stuck watching a dumb talk show instead of the Sci Fi Channel. So I could see the footage of the cult in Arizona. So I could see your sister on the television.” Bergen paused to breathe, holding up his hand so Danny wouldn’t interrupt. “And now it’s your turn. My task is done. Now it’s your turn to be the hero.”
“That’s just plain crazy, Berg,” Danny had finally said. But as he’d said it, he’d felt the strange logic take hold. Danny had felt directed all summer. Events had been happening around him over which he had no control. His sister. His father. His mother. Maxom. And now Bergen. There had to be a reason for it. There just had to be.
“See?” Bergen had asked, seeing the doubt creep into Danny’s expression. “You’re getting it. You’re finally getting it. So go already. God knows no one will believe us. You’re going to have to take matters into your own hands.” Bergen had mumbled as the painkillers took effect. “Be the hero.”
“A hero,” Danny now murmured as he guided Maxom into the sunlight. They paused for a car to pull forward, then stepped off the curb and headed to where Maxom had parked his truck. Not likely, he thought. He didn’t feel anything like a hero. On the contrary, he felt more like a kid than ever. Things were beginning to move quickly now and he was feeling the pressure. Any other kid would take this information directly to the police, or to his mother and father. But other kids didn’t have the Maggot Man as a friend. Other kids couldn’t travel The Land of Inside-Out or possess other creatures and force them to do your bidding. Other kids couldn’t fly. Other kids hadn’t fought the Boogie Man and won.
Maybe Bergen had a point. Danny would like to think of himself as a hero.
Maxom didn’t speak until they were in the truck and headed towards home.“I know what you’re thinking, boy. Things like this are touchy. What with the Branch Davidians and
all? You could call in the National Guard and the French Foreign Legion, but if those folks are determined, they can keep anyone out. I saw it happen in Vietnam, one sniper holding a company of men at bay.”
They drove on, Maxom always in the slow lane, staring straight ahead. Occasionally, he’d notice a telephone pole as they passed and grimace.
“How’d they get him?”
“Who?”
“The sniper.”
“They sent in a two man hit team. Sometimes a small element can go in and do what the larger can’t. They chose me and an old friend of mine named Bernie.”
“What happened?”
“We killed him.”
“What happened to Bernie?”
“Same thing happened to him, happened to my legs.”
“Oh.” After a moment Danny added, “well, you got me, now.”
* * *
From the front page of the Tombstone Gazette:
Things went from bad to worse Thursday morning when sheriff’s deputies working in concert with a multi-jurisdictional Law Enforcement Task Force attempted to serve a warrant upon the man known as John the New Baptist, leader of the Church of the Resurrection. As the warrant was being served, one of the officers struck the church leader, resulting in an armed confrontation as church members and law enforcement officials drew weapons.
One shot was fired, but there were no injuries. Eventually the members of the Task Force retreated to a point on the main road where they set-up a blockade to inhibit all traffic. Airplanes from Davis-Monthan and Luke Air Force Bases are conducting around-the-clock overflights in order to establish what is termed as ‘Eyes-On’ Control.
Among the weapons believed to be in the church are an unverified number of M-16s, shotguns, 9-millimeter pistols and hunting rifles of various calibers.
“All we need now is for them to have explosives and it’ll turn into another Waco,” said Agent Gil Gooly, the officer involved in striking the church leader. When asked his reason for the attack, he responded “No comment.”