“One…more…push,” Jess gasped, fighting to stay conscious through the pulsing pain.
And that’s when The Pig vomited. It was a tidal wave of soaking filth that splashed across us like a burning ocean. I screamed as it gushed into my eyes, new pain rattling my skull with relentless fury.
I felt Jess slip as the vomit poured over us, sliding back towards the front of the mouth. I desperately grabbed her arm and screamed, using every ounce of strength I had to pull her back toward me. My arm quivered with effort as I shoved her ahead of me and down into the throat.
Howling, I shimmied behind her and pushed. I saw her head slide forward and then she disappeared down into the squirming black. The Pig tossed its head in horror, our bodies living poison fighting to be digested.
“LET-ME-GO!” I roared, surging forward in a last ditch effort.
For a moment, I thought I hadn’t made it, its tongue rolling around me, but I squirmed past it, pressing myself against the walls of its mouth.
And then I was sliding down its throat.
Down into the waiting expanse of its reeking maw.
Down into the end.
As the clutches of darkness took me in its arms, I heard The Pig scream with unbridled terror.
18
I screamed, gasping and clawing at my face. The walls of my vision rocked with trembling agony and images flashed before my eyes like blurry photos. Pain shot through my body like my bones were being deconstructed, one molecule at a time. My hands groped at my ruined limbs, desperately trying to stem the flow of crippling agony. My throat felt like it would rupture as my howls rattled from my chest.
“Nick!”
The world shook and gentle hands caressed my face with tender reassurance. The streaking red that filled my vision shook, stirring the horrific images. But then, slowly, they bled back into the corners of my trembling mind, replaced by the reality I now found myself in. I scrubbed the confusion from my eyes and blinked, tears running down my face.
Jess stared down at me, perfect and unblemished. Her eyes glowed with warmth, her face twisted with concern. I felt her hands cupping my face, her soft skin like the smoothest silk. Tears flowed from her eyes, welling in those endless depths of purest blue.
“Jess?” I croaked, my voice a shaking mess.
She let out a relieved gasp, a smile splitting her face. She leaned down and hugged me fiercely, squeezing me tight, her head buried in my shoulder.
Amazed, I took her in my arms and looked around.
We were back in our house, sprawled out on the couch.
“Please tell me this isn’t a dream,” I cried, chest hitching with unbearable relief.
Jess sat up on me, wiping trails of tears from her face. “We did it, Nick; we’re back. We made it out of that awful place. Oh, Nick…” She collapsed back into me and together we wept. I felt an immense weight lift from my shoulders, uprooting and drifting away into the nothing.
Jess and I held on to one another, lost in the bliss of the moment. We had done it. Done the impossible. Against all odds, we had escaped the Black Farm.
“We beat them,” I sobbed, kissing Jess like it was the first time. She kissed me back, crying, laughing, filled with elation and gratitude and life.
“I love you, Nick,” she wept, our lips meeting again.
We stayed like that on the couch for a long time. Eventually, we fell into silence and just lay there. Jess rested her head on my chest and I stroked her hair, breathed her in, filled myself with the promise of a fresh start. We had overcome tremendous obstacles, suffered through the darkest hell, and made it out onto the other side.
At one point, I looked at the coffee table and saw the array of empty pill bottles we had left behind. I shuddered at the sight of them, and again relief swept through me like a tempest. How foolish I had been, how utterly selfish and horrible. I squeezed Jess tighter and kissed her forehead, swearing in that moment that I would be everything she deserved.
The path we had chosen, the choices we had made…I would forever close the doors to those dark passages. Not because I knew about the Black Farm, not because I feared its horrors…but because I wanted to be a better person for Jess. Because I needed to appreciate what a wonderful treasure life was. In that moment, I saw the happiness I had been blind to before. I felt the joy of being alive—to burn with affection, to cradle and share the overwhelming love I felt in my heart.
Jess breathed against me and I knew she was lost in her own thoughts, swept away by the incredible weight of what we had just suffered. I stroked her tear-streaked cheek and whispered in her ear just how much she meant to me. We kissed again, still shaken by our passage.
Eventually, Jess pointed towards the window, her voice the softest whisper. “The sun’s coming up.”
I turned my head and saw she was right. Faint traces of purple tickled the sky, soon joined by gentle pools of pink and orange. We lay there, unmoving, and watched the day begin anew.
Five Months Later
I sat in the darkness of my living room, staring into the shadows. The house was still, swathed in black as deep night swelled around me. The snow had finally stopped, a blanket of undisturbed white coating the cold earth. Faint embers glowed from our fireplace and I turned my bloodshot eyes to watch them die.
I raised my hands and realized they were shaking. I ran them through my hair, exhaling heavily. My chest hitched and I swallowed down a gasp crawling up my throat. I closed my eyes and concentrated, desperately trying to empty my mind. I placed my head in my hands, leaning over in my chair, sweat coating the back of my neck.
Suddenly, a light went on in the hallway and I heard the gentle patter of footsteps against the wood floors. I dragged a hurried hand over my eyes and turned to see Jess staring at me. Her silhouette was a painting of dark beauty, her stomach protruding with our unborn son. She unconsciously ran her hands over the swell of her belly, as if to comfort our child.
“Nick,” she asked quietly, “are you ok?”
I struggled to respond, terrified for a second that my voice would betray me. “I’m ok, sweetie. Just…can’t sleep.”
“Will you come back to bed with me? Please?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.
I tried to smile in the darkness. “Of course…just…give me a second?”
Jess hesitated for a moment and then turned off the hall light. But instead of retreating to the bedroom, she glided over to my side and crouched down before me. She took my hands in hers and stared up into my face.
Shadows couldn’t hide the tears in my eyes or the tremble of my lip. I felt naked and exposed, emotion gurgling in my chest like a ghost.
Jess’s eyes melted when she saw me. “Oh Nick…”
I sniffled and let out a sob, hiding my face from her. “I’m sorry…I’ll be ok…please…”
Jess pulled my hands away from my face. “Hey, hey, it’s ok…honey, it’s ok. We’re not there anymore. You’re here with me and your wonderful son.”
Tears flowed freely down my face, my vision blurring, my voice a desperate whisper, “I’m sorry…”
Jess cupped my face in her hands, her eyes sad. “Baby, you have nothing to apologize for. You’re not going back there, neither of us is. It’s all right…it’s over.”
My hands shook violently as another cry escaped my lips. I scrubbed my eyes, heart fluttering. “Jesus, Jess…I can’t get it out of my head…everything I did…” I craned my head back, hyperventilating. “Every time I close my eyes I think I’m going to wake up there, and I’ll be standing before The Pig.”
Jess stood up and stroked my hair, pressing my cheek to her stomach. “I won’t let that happen, Nick. You’re safe here with me and with our baby. That nightmare is over and it’s never coming back.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed shakily, trying to calm myself. My heart began to slow as Jess continued to rhythmically run her fingers through my hair. It was over…
Suddenly, I felt the baby kick beneath my
cheek and I jumped in surprise. I looked up at Jess, and as our eyes met, we both began to laugh. It was the most wonderful sound I had ever heard, burning away the mood like a wildfire.
“Feels like someone is concerned about Daddy,” Jess said quietly, smiling.
I wiped the tears from my cheek and kissed Jess’s stomach, whispering, “Don’t you worry, little guy; I’m going to be ok. And I’m going to show you just how wonderful life truly is. I promise.”
I hugged Jess and she hugged me back, the knot in my chest unraveling further.
“Come to bed?” Jess asked after a moment.
I stood, wrapping an arm around her. “That sounds wonderful.”
As we went to the bedroom, I couldn’t help but speculate one last time on our journey through the Black Farm. In truth, I didn’t know what kind of state we had left it in or what fate The Pig had met. Even now, the forces of the afterlife could be locked in brutal conflict, moments away from destroying existence itself.
But for now, I could only guess the repercussions of my actions. I knew that one day I would probably find out when I walked back through death’s door. But until then…
I climbed into bed with Jess, pushing my troubled thoughts away. I mentally locked them in a vault never be opened again. I knew that my family would be my strength against the darkness that awaited me behind that door. That murderous voice calling out to me…
Jess pulled the covers over us and snuggled into me, sighing comfortably. I wrapped her in my arms, exhaling into the dark room.
Soon Jess was asleep and I knew I wasn’t far behind. I breathed in the silence and emptied my head of worries. As I was about to close my eyes, I looked out the bedroom window at the night sky. A vast canopy of twinkling crystals glowed down at us, perfect and pure.
In the distance, I spotted a shooting star, a flash of light plummeting from the majestic heavens.
And for a second, I thought it glowed red.
About the Author
Elias started writing at age fifteen and hasn’t stopped since. As he experimented with different genres, he felt pulled to the darker side of fiction. He lives in New England and can usually be found muttering over his keyboard and nervously looking over his shoulder. He thinks horror deserves some fresh concepts and is doing his best to breathe new life into the genre.
You might also like:
The Worst Kind of Monsters
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Certain Dark Things
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Our Monsters Are Real: The Pig Man
by Sean Seebach
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