She felt guilty. He was old. He couldn’t keep up with her seventeen-year-old legs. What if he’d fallen down and seriously hurt himself? She would never forgive herself. She had to get back and check on him.
With a final farewell glance at the bat, Kara pushed herself up. She turned around and almost bumped into someone.
She jumped back in surprise.
“David?” she said.
She pressed her hand on her chest. “You scared me half to death. What are you doing here? I didn’t even hear you come. How did you know where I was?”
David watched her, but he said nothing. He was sweating profusely, like he had just run a marathon. His skin was a pale sickly green, and his bottom lip trembled. He looked like he had a fever.
“What’s the matter?” said Kara, breathing hard. “You don’t look well. Are you feeling okay? David?”
There was something different in the blue of his eyes and his face, like a shadow, but when she focused on him again, it was gone.
David wiped his sweaty forehead with his trembling hand, and Kara noticed a series of deep cuts on his wrists.
“I need you to come with me now.”
It was David’s voice, but somehow it was also different, almost like a recording of his voice.
Kara shifted uneasily. “Come with you where? David, you don’t look well. Maybe we should go to the clinic and see the doctor.”
He looked over his shoulder and then surveyed the park before he spoke again.
“You need to come with me,” he repeated, and then added gently. “Please, please come with me. Now.”
“You’re not making any sense,” she said gently. “Besides, I can’t, right now. Sorry. I need to check on Mr. Patterson. Actually, I need to apologize to him if I want to keep my job—”
“Mr. Patterson?” sneered David. His voice was coated with venom, and he watched her intensely.
Kara felt a slow panic begin to stir in her chest.
David turned away from her and kicked the ground.
“Those creatures think they are so very clever. Oracles!” He spat. “The great clairvoyants. The crystal readers.” And then he added in a low voice. “Oracles are meddlers.”
“Did you say oracle?”
Kara didn’t remember Mr. Patterson ever speaking about oracles when David was around. In fact she was certain of it—as certain as Mr. Patterson had been that the bat was a bad omen.
Kara stepped forward and put her hand gently on David’s shoulder. “David, what’s the matter? You’re not yourself.”
David glared at her. His voice rose and his face twisted into an ugly grimace. “Did you forget about our plans? We had made plans tonight. Come on, let’s go now.”
Kara felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She stared at David.
“I…I don’t remember, but I’m sure we did. Why don’t we go back together? I just need to pop by the bookstore first—”
“No!” David slapped her hand from his shoulder and laughed nervously.
He wiped his face with his black t-shirt and forced a smile.
“I mean, not yet. We can go later. But first I want you to come with me to the forest,” he said. “Come, let’s go to the forest.”
“David, it’s dark. And the forest is even darker. Why do you want to go in there?”
“Don’t you trust me?”
Kara felt the beginnings of tears but forced them away. She swallowed hard, and when she spoke her voice cracked.
“Of course, I trust you.”
“Then do as I say.” He turned to face her. His eyes were bloodshot and crazed. He leaned toward Kara and shouted. “Let’s go. Now!”
Kara took a step back. David looked evil. She hardly recognized him.
David noticed the fear on Kara’s face and lowered his voice.
“I’m sorry,” he said, smiling unnaturally, as though it pained him to do so. “I can see that I’m scaring you. That’s not what I wanted.”
Kara cringed at the madness in David’s eyes.
“What’s the matter with you? You sound so different…you sound like someone else.”
David smiled cruelly, looking like someone else again.
“Fine. Then I’ll go by myself. Don’t expect me to be there for you anymore. Without trust you can’t have a relationship. There’s nothing. I gave you a chance, and you let me down, Kara. It’s over.”
He turned on his heel and left.
Kara stared back at him, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
David had just broken up with her… But why? Because she didn’t want to waltz into the spooky forest—it didn’t make sense. She’d never seen him behave like this.
It was over, he had said.
It seemed that David had disappeared. She didn’t know who this cruel person was. What had happened to him?
Kara stood frozen in place, hoping that he would change his mind and come back. But he didn’t.
She watched David disappear through a line of pine and hemlock trees, and then she started to move toward the forest herself. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. Whatever was wrong, they were going to talk about it—
But Kara’s blood went cold, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw a dark shape appear where David had stood just seconds before.
The shape was a head taller than David. It moved gracefully between the trees and then disappeared after him through the thick wall of shrubs. Was it a trick of the light? Was the forest playing with her mind? This wasn’t just a case of an overexcited imagination. She couldn’t explain it, but she just knew it was evil.
It is a bad omen to see a bat in broad daylight. Mr. Patterson’s voice sounded in her head. …It is a sign that the balance of things has shifted, that something unnatural is near—something not from this world has entered.
Kara was frightened. Mr. Patterson had been right—she wasn’t imagining demons again. This was real evil, and it was going to kill David.
Chapter 2
The Needle
With her heart in her throat, Kara bolted toward the spot in the forest where she had last seen David.
“David!” she bellowed. With the hurtful things he had said forgotten, Kara hurtled across the park like a wild cheetah. She had to save David.
Her intuition screamed that something was very wrong, that David’s life was in danger. She had sensed and sometimes seen shadows of dark and menacing creatures all her life. So far, they had always seemed to be following her, but tonight they were chasing David.
The image of the dark figure played in her mind over and over. She didn’t know what she was going to do once she reached it. Even though she had only seen it in the distance she could tell it was well over six feet tall. The last time she checked, she wasn’t exactly a ninja or a superhero—she would just have to wing it.
Where was Mr. Patterson? She could have used his help—and his bat. It was still strange that he had never shown up, but right now, David needed her help. She would have to deal with her boss later.
Leaves crashed under her shoes as she made it through the first line of trees. The thick darkness hit her like a wall of doom.
She tripped over a root and crashed to the ground hard, scraping her knees. Cursing, she pushed herself back up and strained to see through the ominous and impenetrable darkness.
The air was hot, stale, and smelled as though some large animal was rotting away deep in the forest. But there was something else, like the smell of smoke, like the smoldering of a small campfire.
Kara stood still, listening. She waited a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was no use to run in blindly. She’d be no use to David if she got lost or impaled herself. The forest was treacherous, especially at night. She needed to calm herself and be smart.
She could barely make out her hand in front of her face. How was she ever going to find David?
A scream cut through the silence.
“David!”
Kara crashe
d blindly through the forest toward the sound of the scream. Branches as sharp as blades cut through the skin on her face and hands. She cried out. She could feel the blood trickling down her cheeks, but she kept on going. She hoped she was running in the right direction.
Her lungs burned as she gasped for breath. It was like running in a sauna. The air was too thin—too hot—it wasn’t normal.
She tripped again, steadied herself, and then she stopped and listened. Nothing but the rustling of the leaves and her racing heartbeat. She had lost him. She was lost.
“David! Where are you?” she bellowed.
She listened intently again, but only the forest whispered back. The branches cracked in the wind. The smell of wet earth and decomposing leaves filled the air around, smothering her like a heavy perfume.
“Kara! Help!” David’s voice came from deep in the forest.
Kara held her breath. There was no doubt in her mind—that was David’s voice.
Frantically, she searched the dark ground and found a thick branch that matched the feel and size of Mr. Patterson’s bat. Then she charged into the forest.
It was close, really close. She could hear the terror and pain in his voice. He was scared. Something was scaring him.
With images of David’s body being dismembered by some demonic creature running through her mind, she tumbled through the dark forest, tripping and colliding with tree trunks in the dark.
But although Kara kept running she never seemed to get any closer to him. She met more trees and more darkness, but there were no signs of David.
She halted. Her lungs screamed for every breath. Maybe she had gone the wrong way? Had she run too deep, too far in the wrong direction? Worse, she had no idea which way was North or South, let alone how far she had wandered.
She knew she was lost.
“David? I can’t find you. Tell me where you are!”
She waited and listened carefully.
But no answer came. She was alone, deep in the woods, and very lost.
A cool wind brushed the hair from her face and refreshed her. She looked up at the trickle of silver light that spilled from an opening through the top of the trees. Although angry gray clouds raced across the dark blue sky, the moon was a bright white disk. Strange how fast night had come, but not as strange as being in the middle of the forest of doom. The air smelled unnaturally of sulfur, and she could feel the electricity in the air, much more than before.
Breathing heavily, she walked slowly forward and stumbled into a clearing in the forest. The ground was soft, like walking on cotton balls. The air was cooler and soon she could make out her surroundings.
Kara stood in a round clearing. She coughed. The stench of rotten flesh was worse. It was almost as though she were right next to a decomposing animal corpse and was expecting to step in it at any moment. But when she searched the ground, there was nothing.
Suddenly, Kara felt a presence behind her. With her breath caught in her throat she turned around.
A man stood in the clearing.
Kara took a step back. “Who—who are you? Where’s David?”
And when the man stepped into the light of the moon, Kara stopped breathing.
He stared back at her with large yellow eyes with slit-like irises, like the eyes of a cat. She could see black veins that shone like tattoos under his thin, paper-white skin. His evil smile revealed a mouth full of sharp black teeth that looked as though they had been filed down into pointy needles, and he wore a black leather tunic and pantsuit, almost like a medieval costume. He was tall, and his long black hair fell over his square shoulders. He looked like the evil offspring of a vampire and a zombie.
“Hello again, Kara.”
Kara stepped back and lowered her weapon slightly.
“How—how,” she stammered and fought to regain the strength in her voice. “How did you know my name? Who are you?”
The thing’s smile widened. “I’m a friend. No need to be frightened.”
Pale gray smoke seeped from his skin, as though his burning body had just been doused with water. The smoke dissipated.
Kara retched at his vile, rotten-flesh smell. It was all pretty disgusting.
She stiffened. His cat-like eyes bore into hers. She couldn’t look away. She was frozen on the spot. In her fear she had forgotten why she was there in the first place. He watched her eagerly, like she was about to become his next meal.
Kara shook her head. Her monsters had always been shadows, never anything so solid, so evil.
“This can’t be happening. You can’t be real.”
The man laughed an inhuman, guttural laugh.
“Classic human response,” he said in a low animal-like voice.
It was as though he was reading her mind.
“You must not let your weak mind and emotions cloud your ability to see beyond the layers of the planes, to see beyond the veil. You’re not imagining things, mortal. See with your eyes. See the beyond.”
She couldn’t speak. It was real. This thing, this man, this creature was real. She could see it. She could smell it. It was so close to her she could smell its foul, rotten breath. She felt as though she was stuck in one of her nightmares. She was having a waking night terror.
The creature moved slowly toward her.
“Don’t come any closer.” Her voice cracked, just a little louder than a whisper.
“Stay back,” she said with a little more conviction as she took another careful step back. It frightened her, and although she wanted desperately to run, she couldn’t look away. It seemed to have a pull on her, as though there was an invisible force willing her to stay in place.
It was all too extraordinary to process. Monsters existed in the world. There was one in front of her at this very moment, and he looked like he was about to eat her like she was a filet mignon. It wanted something from her. Where was David?
She took another step back and gripped her stick firmly in her trembling hands, determined to go down fighting.
The creature leered, pleased at her fear.
It laughed at her again. “Yes, you are right to be frightened. But right now, you and I have some business to settle.”
The creature approached slowly, and Kara noticed it made no sound as it floated over the leaves on the forest floor. It was so close. She would feel its hot breath against her cheeks.
“Don’t come any closer. Stay back!”
Kara swung her wooden club menacingly. She looked around frantically. Could she run for it? It would be a miracle if she found her way out of the forest. And if by some miracle she did escape the forest, would this thing follow her and kill her? What did it want? It took every ounce of courage to look at the beast. What business could she and this thing possible have? Clearly, it was toying with her.
“Get away from me, demon!” yelled Kara.
His mouth rippled in anger.
“I am no demon,” he hissed. “You insult me gravely, Kara. I thought you’d know better, seeing how special you are in our world. Your memory leaves a lot to be desired—something that time can fix, no doubt.”
The man-creature searched the clearing behind him as though he were expecting someone to discover them.
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for pleasantries. Someone else has entered the forest. Someone that I’d rather not deal with.” His face twisted in a smile that made him look less like a man and more than ever like a beast. “We should get started.”
Kara watched the creature—afraid to speak, afraid to move.
“You see, Kara, we already put things to rest. Now they have risen up again. Life is the most fragile, unstable, unpredictable thing there is. In fact, there’s only one thing about life we can be sure of, and that is death.”
Kara didn’t trust herself to speak. She spotted an escape through a gap in the trees to her left. If only she could distract it somehow, but how?
She turned and faced the creature, doing her best not to look into those horrid yellow
eyes.
“Where’s my friend? What have you done to David?”
The creature sneered.
“David was never here. It’s just you, me,” he raised his arms, “and the little critters that dwell in this forest.”
“Liar!” spat Kara. “Where is he?”
She swung the stick like a sword, impressed and surprised at her own skill. She had the strangest feeling that she had wielded a weapon like this before. But how could that be?
She glared at the cat-eyed man. “If you hurt him, I swear I’ll…I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” laughed the man-creature. He pointed a finger at her. His nails were sharp black claws. “You’ll hurt me with your little stick?”
He reached inside the folds of his jacket and retrieved a syringe. He held it in the air and flicked it with his finger. The black liquid inside looked like blood. His eyes widened in pleasure, and he looked at Kara as though she was some long-awaited prize he was about to win.
“What—what is that?” Kara’s heart thumped in her throat.
She took another step back and kept her eyes on the strange black liquid in the syringe.
“Are you going to infect me with some virus? Is that what this is about? You’re sick. You’re demented.”
She remembered the hundreds of zombie movies she’d seen, and although she doubted she would become a zombie, she knew instinctively that the black substance was bad.
“You’re not touching me with that thing.”
Kara swung her wooden weapon and steadied herself. “I’m warning you, I’m a lot stronger than I look. Don’t come any closer.”
She hoped she looked fiercer than she felt, since she was about to fall apart with fear.
The man admired the contents of the syringe and ignored her.
“This is the lifeblood of my masters. They were once the most powerful creatures that ever existed, and they will be again, very soon.”
He glanced at Kara. “They were cast away from their own world because they were feared. But they will rise again. I promise you.”
Kara frowned. She couldn’t make any sense of what the man-creature was telling her. Clearly, it was mad. It was mad, and it was going to hurt her. David had always said that the mad ones were always much more dangerous because they believed their delusions. She wished David were here…
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