by P. T. Hylton
One of the shadow creatures brushed past his hand as it escaped its shell, and Sean cried out and dropped the hammer. Blood began to seep from a large cut between his knuckles.
The creatures overhead spun faster and faster. “Time hurts, little ones. It kills all things. But we are not of time. It is not our master.”
Wendy reached down and scooped up the hammer. The creatures were coming through the gate faster now.
“You have to press the broken clock symbol when you hit them,” Sean said. He gripped his hand, applying pressure to the wound.
Wendy nodded. She pressed the symbol and swung the hammer. It landed with a satisfying thud, and a crack ran across the creature. She found another creature and swung again. And again. They were passing through the gate in the tree almost nonstop now. She could keep going forever, and she wasn’t sure if they would ever stop.
One of the Zed Heads, Wendy thought it was Megan Hassle, ran forward and kicked one of the round creatures, then cried out in pain as she got a foot full of spikes.
At least she was trying, Wendy thought. The rest of the Zed Heads stood dumbly, looks of terror on their faces.
Something new caught Wendy’s ear. Something she hadn’t heard in months but would always recognize. The song of the Unfeathered. At the same moment, she realized she no longer heard the police sirens. She glanced over and saw them standing still, less than a block away.
“There, little ones. Your pain is over. You are home.”
Wendy looked at Sean, and she saw her own terror reflected in his eyes.
The shadow creatures had done it. Time had once again stopped in Rook Mountain.
3. Sanctuary
The window next to the door shattered, and a Larva flew through the air, spinning and sending a stream of glass shards in front of it.
Sophie had been observing the Larvae for weeks now. She’d killed dozens of them, most of them during the daytime when they were at their most active. But she’d never seen any of them move like this. Usually the creatures spun through the air at a fairly slow rate, using the unpredictability of their flight patterns to cause confusion. But this one was moving like a fastball right down the middle. There was no curving or twisting as it sped toward its target, which appeared to be Nate.
He dove to his left, sliding face first onto the floor. His desperate dive worked, and the creature sped past him. The victory didn’t last long, though. The creature turned a quick button hook before reaching the wall. It again headed straight for Nate, who was now defenseless on the floor.
The one dodge had given Logan the time she needed to regain her battle sense. She had her hunting knife in her hand, and as the Larva careened past her, she stabbed at it, landing a deadly-accurate blow in just the right spot.
The creature deflated, and tar-black sludge oozed down Logan’s knife. She flicked her blade, sending the thick liquid splattering to the floor.
“How many of you are armed?” Logan asked.
Only Leonard and Sophie raised their hands.
Logan glared at Sophie. “Yeah, you would be.”
The words hurt, but Sophie tried to let them roll off her back.
Logan turned to Jake. “I doubt that will be the last. We need weapons.”
Jake nodded and pulled a key out of his pocket. It looked exactly like the one Sophie had in her own pocket. He unlocked his office and threw the door open. “There are knives, guns and a few other things in the cabinet on the left. Take whatever you need. Sophie? Let’s go.”
The others looked at each other, shocked at the invitation.
“You aren’t gonna...banish us if we go in there?” Leonard stammered.
Jake smiled weakly. “Not today.”
Logan nodded toward the office. “You heard the man. Get your asses in there.”
The men hustled to the office.
There was a crash as another Larva smashed through a window. This one buzzed toward Sophie. She cleared her mind, forgot about Taylor, Logan, Jake and all of it, and acted on instinct. When the creature was almost to her, at the last possible moment, she dropped to the floor. As it whizzed over her head, she stabbed upward.
The blade sank to the hilt, and a stream of black sludge hit Sophie in the face. She spat and wiped her face with the back of her hand.
Logan didn’t even try to suppress her smile.
The group emerged from the office. Each person carried a pistol and knife. Taylor held an ax.
Nate handed a pistol to Logan, then said to Leonard, “You come with me. We’ll round up the others.”
Logan said, “The rest of you, let’s circle up and figure out a defense strategy.”
Another creature buzzed through the broken window next to the door. It headed for Logan, but Jake turned without waiting around to see how she dispatched it.
“Sophie, let’s go,” he said.
She gave a quick nod and spat again. Her mouth tasted like an oil refinery.
Jake hustled to the door. Sophie slipped her backpack on and quickly followed. Jake threw the door open and then froze, causing Sophie to slam into his back. She leaned to the side to see what had stopped him.
A naked, dirt-smeared man stood in the doorway. His dirty blond hair was long and unkempt. A Larva perched on each of his shoulders, and he held another in each hand.
“Simon,” Jake said.
The man’s only response was a sick, gurgling moan. Faster than Sophie would have thought possible, the man Jake had called Simon brought up his left hand and slammed the Larva into Jake’s belly.
Jake grunted and fell backwards, clutching his stomach.
Simon pulled back his hand and the Larva came with it. Sophie fought the urge to gag as she realized how the creatures were attached to him. Its spikes went clean through each of his hands. They were similarly impaled on his shoulders, and a thin greenish-red liquid ran down his arms and sides. Sophie wasn’t sure what the liquid was, but it sure didn’t look like human blood.
Sophie shoved Jake aside and brought her knife around hard, stabbing Simon in the neck. He didn’t seem to notice.
“Get out of the way!” Logan yelled.
Sophie staggered to her right, dragging Simon with her.
Logan fired. The room exploded with the noise of the gunshot and a bullet hole appeared above the man’s right eye. His head snapped back.
Sophie staggered backward as the sticky, not-quite-blood substance from the man’s head splattered onto her arms.
Simon paused for a moment and then shook his head as if to clear it. His eyes were now fixed on Logan. He began walking toward her.
Logan fired again, once again landing a clean head shot. This time the man paused only a moment before staggering forward.
She fired again. And again. It barely slowed Simon.
“Damn it!” Logan shouted. “Anybody want to give me a hand here?”
Jake lay on the ground, clutching his stomach. “Kill the Larvae first. Then subdue him.”
Logan paused for a moment, then gave a quick nod and pulled out her knife.
Sophie yanked her knife out of Simon’s neck. She thrust the knife back at him, stabbing the Larva on his right shoulder. Logan took out the one in his right hand. Frasier came forward and took care of his left hand.
Sophie killed the final Larva and nodded at Frasier. “Nicely done, old man.”
He smiled. “I learned from the best.” Then, as if suddenly remembering her new traitor status, he quickly looked away.
Sophie turned to Jake. “You okay?”
He grunted and pushed himself to his feet. “Yeah. It’s not deep.” He held up a hand covered in the blood that had leaked from his wounds. “Just messy.”
Simon threw a wild punch at Logan. She easily deflected it. “Not so tough now, are you?”
Sophie noticed Mason peeking around his mother, his face pale with fear.
Jake’s eyes searched for a frantic moment before resting on Mason, who was huddled behind Logan. Relief washed
over his face. “You two okay?”
“Yeah,” Logan said. “But what do we do with Simon?”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know. He doesn’t die easy, that’s for sure. Maybe we lock him in my office for now? Then we can gather all the others, make sure everyone’s safe and—”
A loud whining noise from Simon cut Jake off. The naked man’s head was thrown back and his arms were stretched out at his sides.
The sound pulsed in Sophie’s ears like a painful drum.
“What the hell are you doing?” Logan yelled at him.
Sophie heard a chirping noise behind her and glanced over her shoulder. Two Larvae were rolling as fast as bowling balls. Another two flew through the air.
“Look out!” she yelled. She rolled to her side as quickly as she was able, and she felt a breeze as the Larvae sped past her.
The two on the floor leapt suddenly, impaling themselves on Simon’s palms. The two in the air collided with his shoulders, taking the place of the ones Sophie had killed.
This time, the group moved as one. Logan took the left hand, Frasier took the right, Sophie took the one on the left shoulder, and Leonard dispatched the Larva on the right shoulder.
Simon was now streaked with the sludge left behind by the creatures. He snarled and threw back his head again.
Logan leapt at him, tackling him to the floor. She held his inky-black-smeared shoulders to the ground. He snapped at her with his dirt stained teeth. Her hands were barely out of his mouth’s reach.
“We can’t let him make that noise again,” Logan said. “Bullet to the head didn’t work. How about we try taking the head off altogether?” She looked at Taylor. “You mind?”
Taylor raised the ax over his head. For a terrible moment, Sophie was sure he was going to bring the ax down on Logan. It took everything she had not to stab him.
He brought the ax down hard, burying it in Simon’s neck. The man’s head rolled onto its side as it separated from his body. It came off a bit too cleanly, more like splitting wood than hacking flesh.
“Nice shot,” Logan said.
Taylor nodded.
They all waited in silence, watching the body for any signs of life. After a full thirty seconds, Nate said, “Well, that seems to work.”
“Yeah,” Frasier said. “Now if we can get them to all lie down nicely, they shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
Sophie took a deep breath. Her heart was still racing. Just when she’d gotten used to taking on the Larvae, here came the zombie plant monsters.
“How many of those things are there?” she asked. “How many more people have you banished?”
Jake glanced out the door. “Eleven. Not counting Zed.”
“Great,” Sophie said. “As long as they keep coming one at a time, we can handle them.”
“Don’t forget lying down nicely,” Frasier said.
“Actually, that does raise a question.” Nate glared down at the body. “Did Simon wander in here? Or was he sent?”
The room considered that in silence for a few moments. Then Jake said, “Nate, you know Zed better than anyone. Is such a thing possible?”
Nate thought about that for a moment. “On normal people, probably not. He can dig around in their heads, and he can manipulate like crazy. But he can’t actually control a person’s mind. These guys seem to be damaged though. So it’s certainly possible.”
Logan shook her head. “I don’t buy it. If he’s controlling them, why not send them all at once? There’s no way we could stand up to all eleven.”
Sophie said, “Unless he’s trying to distract us. Or keep us busy.”
Jake struggled to his feet. “Either way, we need to stick to the original plan. Sophie and I will go take care of Zed. Nate and Leonard, you knock on doors and let people know what’s going on. I don’t want anyone killed in their sleep by one of those bastards. Logan—”
“Yeah, I know.” She clutched her gun with one hand and ruffled her son’s hair with the other. “Protect the home front.”
Jake nodded. “Maybe you all should hole up in an interior room. There’s the bathroom upstairs. No windows.”
Logan grimaced. “That’s a damn tight spot. If a couple of those things come calling at once, we could be cornered.”
Jake put his hand on her shoulder. “Okay. It’s your call. I trust you. I know you’ll protect Mason no matter what.”
She smiled. “You better believe it.”
Jake scooped Mason up in a giant bear hug. The kid looked a little dazed, but he hugged his father back and smiled. “I love you, kid. Listen to your mother.”
“Okay, daddy.”
“See you soon.” He set Mason down and then nudged Sophie. “Break out the compass.”
Sophie fished the compass out of her pocket, pressed the broken clock symbol, and thought of Zed. The needle moved immediately. “Got him. Let’s do it.”
Nate and Leonard followed Jake and Sophie out of the house. The two groups split at the path.
Jake patted Nate’s shoulder. “Stay safe.”
Nate nodded. “I appreciate you not asking, boss.”
“Not asking what?”
“Whether you can trust me now that Zed’s free.”
Jake said, “No need to ask.”
The groups went their two separate ways, one toward the cabins of Sanctuary and one toward the man who called himself Zed. Five minutes after they had left Jake’s house, the next wave of attacks began.
4. Sanctuary
Jake marched down the trail. He hadn’t even glanced at Sophie in five minutes. All these years, all the sacrifices he’d made, first coming here, and then capturing Zed. Deciding to live here forever rather than risk letting that madman loose on the world. Then realizing there may be a way home. Building the Sanctuary. Constantly second guessing himself. The hours spent lying awake at night, wondering if he was becoming a new version of Zed himself, with his rules and his banishments. Finding comfort in Logan’s arms. Then breaking up with her. Then going back to her, over and over again.
What was it all for?
All he’d spent years building, and this woman had torn it down in less than a month.
“Jake,” she said. “I’m so sorry for taking your book. For all of this.”
He didn’t reply.
“You wouldn’t listen to me about Taylor,” she said.
“I told you the score right away. This is a place without shadows. Someone wants their past to be known, they have to be the one to share it.”
“He killed my sister,” she blurted out.
He flinched.
“He didn’t even know her. He picked her out at random and bashed her head in. Do you know what that’s like?”
Jake didn’t answer. He kept his eyes fixed on the trail.
“And you wouldn’t listen to me. You threatened me. And then there were these trees. Messages started appearing. Messages for me. They told me how to bring Taylor to justice. All I had to do was follow their plan.”
“Let me guess. The plan didn’t work out quite the way the trees promised.”
“I feel so stupid.”
He sighed. “Look, you’re not the first person Zed has fooled. He did it to my whole damn town. Got us to agree to everything he said.”
“Yeah, but you stood up to him.”
He shrugged. “Eventually. But that was my wife’s doing as much as mine. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have had the courage.” His eyes scanned the trees, searching for more Larvae. Or more naked men wielding them. “I was there in the crowd on Regulation Day. I listened to Zed. I voted for his Regulations. So you could say I took the bait just like you.”
“So...you’re not mad?”
He glared at her. “Oh, I’m mad. I’m beyond mad. I’m furious. But I also need you. Zed took an interest in you, leaving you those messages. Say what you will about him, but he’s got an eye for talent. Nate was a dumb stoner when Zed found him, but Zed saw his potential. So I think y
ou might have something Zed’s scared of. Or something he wants.”
“I do,” she said, and she held up the compass.
“That’s not what I meant. But that doesn’t hurt either.”
Sophie looked at the compass and frowned.
“What is it?” Jake asked.
“He must be moving. The compass is pointing to the left now.”
“There’s a fork up ahead,” Jake said. “That’ll lead us in the right direction.”
As they walked, Jake said, “Sophie, I have to tell you something.” He paused, but she didn’t respond. So he continued. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Do what?”
“The thing we’re on our way to do. Banishing Zed.”
“What are you talking about? I saw you do it the other day.”
His feet suddenly felt heavy. It was like he was moving through knee-deep mud rather than over a beaten dirt trail. “I did it, but I had time to prepare. And it hurt. I was coughing blood for two days after that.”
Sophie’s brow creased at that, whether in concern or worry for her own safety, he didn’t know.
“The book wasn’t meant to be used by someone like me. A normal man. Or maybe it wasn’t meant to be used so often. Either way, it’s taking its toll. The words are getting cloudy. Harder for me to read. I’ll try my best. I’ll keep going until it kills me. But I’m not confident. I don’t know if I could banish a normal man in the state I’m in, and Zed, well, that nearly killed me the first time, when I was fresh and doing the things in the book came easy to me.”
“Then what the hell are we doing here? If you can’t do it, then let’s not do it. Let’s figure out something else.”
“What else are we supposed to do?”
Sophie bit her lip. “Show me how to do it.”
Jake shook his head.
“What? You don’t trust me?”
“It’s not that. It’s not exactly something I can teach you in ten minutes.”
“I did okay unbanishing everyone.”
“Don’t remind me. Besides, that’s different. It’s like...untying a knot versus tying one. You could probably figure out how to untie most knots. It takes practice to tie a perfect one, though.”