Horror In The Clouds

by Scott Shoyer

  After a minute, Brandon responded to Damien’s words by turning his head toward his father. “I can’t stop this, Dad,” Brandon said. The boy looked into the sky as a third skyscraper-sized appendage appeared through the portal. “Do it, Dad,” Brandon said.

  At first Damien didn’t know what Brandon meant until he saw where his son’s eyes were fixed. “I can’t, Brandon!” Damien cried. “You’re all I have left in the world!”

  “There isn’t going to be a world in a few moments!” Brandon shouted. “I can’t stop it! N’Xabez is almost all the way through!”

  Tears flowed from Damien’s eyes as he knew there was no other way. He could save his son and destroy the world, or he could end this now. Damien looked at his son bathed in the glowing lights. “I love you, Brandon!” he cried.

  Damien raised the gun and emptied the four remaining bullets into his son. One bullet missed, but the next two bullets slammed into Brandon’s chest, and the fourth hit his son in the middle of his forehead. Damien dropped the gun, fell to his knees, and cried.

  Brandon collapsed, dead before he hit the ground. The light from the hole in the sky still shone on Brandon, but it no longer reflected a beacon for N’Xabez to follow.

  An inhuman sound shot from the Elder God as it was sucked back up into the portal. The three enormous appendages struggled to stay outside the hole, but whatever physics controlled the portal were beyond its power.

  After a few minutes, the dark blue clouds cleared as the portal collapsed until it was only a pinpoint of light in the sky. Eventually the small white dot of light was replaced by a normal, Earthly nighttime sky.

  Damien rushed to where Brandon lay dead and cried over his body. Damien had known and had been familiar with the darkness, but he never gave into it because of his son. Brandon was Damien’s light which guided him away from the darkness. Brandon was indeed the Iridescent One, and now that he was gone, Damien was afraid that all that was left was darkness.

  Damien startled as he saw something move against one of the trees on the other side of the pentagon. He saw something wrapped in white. He grabbed a thick branch off the ground and cautiously approached. When he was close, he raised the branch and was about to strike when he saw the long hair.

  Kristin had woken up.

  “Wh… what is going on?” Kristin asked. “Where am I? Where’s my mom?”

  Damien dropped the branch, fell to the ground next to the girl, and hugged her and cried.

  He cried for his lost family.

  He cried for the girl’s lost family.

  And as he looked at the young girl, he also cried because some of the darkness had cleared.

  42

  Three hours had passed since the events on the Sacred Ground. Damien and Kristin took Howard’s car and drove back into town. Most of Derleth was still asleep, but there was still a heaviness in the air. N’Xabez may not have permanently entered this world, but the creature called the Ancient One had definitely left a huge imprint on the town.

  The townsfolk who were awake at this hour stayed in their homes and didn’t even dare look out the window. Damien couldn’t believe the entire town knew about N’Xabez and was able to keep it a secret.

  That’s probably the only reason how it was kept a secret all these years, he thought as he drove down Main Street.

  Kristin sat next to him in the passenger’s seat. She hadn’t said a word since Damien had told her that her mother was dead—sacrificed during the ceremony. From what he knew about Kristin, Damien thought she was a resilient girl who would eventually be able to move past this trauma.

  Damien drove over the same mountain pass that had brought his family to Derleth and kept a vigilant eye on the clouds. He knew that the death of his son hadn’t killed the Ancient One and that it was still up in the clouds, somehow. Driving down the mountain road, it felt like he was being watched.

  Damien drove past the Hualapai Lodge and didn’t turn his head to look at it as they passed. He didn’t know if the people at the lodge knew what was going on in Derleth, and right then he didn’t care to find out.

  As the car sped along Route 66, Damien thought about what other strange things might exist in this world.

  Elder Gods.

  Charnel dreams.

  Huge, antediluvian stone structures.

  Damien shuddered at the thought of there being another realm that was both distant and close to the reality he accepted as the only one. So close, in fact, that only a thin veneer separated the two. He also worried that, now that the Elders had gotten a taste of this world, they’d be back. And something told him that if the Elders really wanted passage into this world that there’d be very little, if anything, that could stop them.

  Damien continued down Route 66 and tensed up as he saw the large auto graveyard they’d passed before appear in the distance. There were no turnoffs to avoid driving past it. Either he turned the car around and headed back toward Derleth, or he just kept driving in the direction he was heading.

  As they passed the auto graveyard, Damien did his best to avert his eyes, but movement from the corner of his eye made him instinctively turn his head. As he looked out the passenger side window, Damien saw the old bearded man behind the gate attending to the cars. The old man-the same old man he’d shot dead-walked among the metal carcasses. Just as Damien drove by, the old man stopped what he was doing and looked straight at Damien’s car. A cold shiver ran up his spine and Damien scanned the rearview mirror to make sure no vehicles were suddenly following him.

  As the old man grew smaller and smaller, Damien’s heart slowed. He reassured himself that there was no way the old man could’ve seen him. I drove by too quickly, right?

  The darkness in Damien stirred, and he knew that things would never be normal again, and that this world was far from safe.

  Damien looked at Kristin asleep next to him and wondered what kinds of monsters and New Gods she dreamt about.

  Epilogue

  Pine Barrens, New Jersey

  2,500 miles from Derleth, AZ

  The night was still as the campers roasted hotdogs over the campfire and anticipated the sweet, chocolatey s’mores to come. It was a perfect night for camping, and Greg was glad he’d finally committed to bringing the family out to the same woods he used to camp in when he was a young boy.

  “I gotta go pee,” Jeremy, Greg’s sixteen-year-old son, announced.

  “Thanks for the announcement, buddy,” Greg laughed. “Just don’t wander too far into the woods.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy said.

  Just as the hot dogs finished cooking, Greg noticed the wind start to pick up. He looked at the nighttime sky and saw some large clouds drifting into view. The clouds kept his attention, being that he’d never seen them so blue before.

  “Is it going to rain?” Greg’s wife asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Greg answered. “The forecast said there was a zero chance for rain this weekend.”

  “I’m just shocked that the weather man got it wrong,” his wife said as she feigned surprise.

  “No, honey, they don’t look like rain clouds,” Greg said.

  As Greg continued to stare into the threatening sky, he saw a small pinpoint of white light poke through the dark blue clouds.

  *****

  Jeremy walked through the woods. He’d always loved the outdoors and was glad his dad had finally brought them camping. As he settled on a tree to water, he saw some large trees in front of him begin to shake violently.

  Keeping his distance, Jeremy called out to the noise. “Hello? Is somebody there? That better not be you, Archer.” Archer was Jeremy’s little brother, and he never missed an opportunity to try and scare him. “If that’s you, Archer, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

  Jeremy walked toward the shaking trees. He was about to issue another warning when the cluster of thick white cedar trees was torn from the ground, roots and all. Behind the now-gone trees was some kind of portal. The objects around it look
distorted, and Jeremy could have sworn he saw something move inside the portal.

  Jeremy jumped back, but was too slow. He was being pulled toward the portal, and there was nothing for him to grab onto. He fell to the ground, but the gateway dragged him closer. Before he reached the portal, a hideous sound shot out of the doorway, which made Jeremy cover his ears. The closer he was pulled to the anomaly, the louder the sound became. He even swore he could smell something foetid.

  As he got within ten feet of the portal, a bright light appeared, but didn’t shine outside the object. The iridescent light lit up the inside of the portal and Jeremy was able to see, for a brief second, what was inside.

  Madness.

  What the Critics are Saying about the Outbreak Trilogy:

  [Outbreak: The Hunger] is a fast read which kept me on the edge of my seat. Scott Shoyer is an experienced horror blogger and true fan of the genre who has perfectly translated his passions into a novel written for horror fans. On the surface this work has the usual gore and suspense that we have come to expect. What makes this novel different is the level of empathy we feel for Fi and how emersive the dialogue between the characters brings us into their world. I felt like I was right there with Fi and John and sharing in their struggle to survive! I can not wait for this author's next work!

  —Amazon reviewer

  Newcomer Scott Shoyer has a real gift for storytelling and it becomes clear within the first couple of chapters that fast-paced action scenes and satisfyingly grisly kill scenes are his forte. He doesn’t shy away from getting really bloody with his kills either, but trust me when I say that it’s just bloody enough to blow your hair back. (Think of the way Stephen King or Quentin Tarantino would do things.) I’m normally a bigger fan of character building scenes and descriptive sequences when it comes to my reading material, but – even though this book does have those things -- it really was the action sequences that grabbed my attention here and kept me turning the pages. In fact, saying [Outbreak: The Hunger] really sucked me in would be an understatement. I actually finished it over the course of a single weekend and found myself instantly looking forward to the promised sequels in the same series.

  —Shannon Hilson, MoreHorror.com

  Yes, Yes.... [Outbreak: The Mutation] is a great follow up to the first book. Whether or not you read the first book you have to read this one. The Mutation is exciting, scary, bloody, and intelligent.... yes, I said intelligent - not what you find in many Zombie Books. I commend the author for all the research he must have done for this book. Again Shoyer will OMG you when you read the ending. What a creative mind and ability to tell a story this author has! Read the book and you will be anxiously awaiting the next one.

  —Anna, Amazon reviewer

  I found [Outbreak: The Mutation] to be a better constructed novel and the narrative was more interesting for me. I was very impressed with his knowledge and language regarding addiction. He continues to keep the zombie genre fresh!

  —Daniel Masterson, Amazon reviewer

  The unique concept is explained as this story unfolds. With a concept unlike any other I've ever read regarding a zombie apocalypse, this is definitely a book worth reading. I only wish it wasn't a trilogy as having to read one more book … requires a level of patience I don't want to have to find out how everything turns out because right now things seem incredibly bleak for the future of humanity.

  —Krimini, Amazon reviewer

  … and that brings us to the zombies. OMG… Because that’s the terrifying part of the book horror readers will love. As the scorching action steamrolls along, the zombies keep evolving in surprising and gruesome ways. In the beginning they’re closer to traditional zombies, a staggering mindless mass. But then they begin to mutate into something we’ve never seen before. The story is built around a mystery about what they really are and what their apocalyptic purpose is … The writing is intense and vivid, barreling the story along in a way that’s both ferocious and thrilling. It has a cinematic quality like the best kind of horror or action movie.

  —Sheldon Woodbury, author

  Outbreak: Endplay is the final book in the Outbreak trilogy. This couldn't be better. Shoyer answers al the questions from previous books as to what the hell is happening on earth. Shoyer is a brilliant writer and didn't hold back on the gore. It has gore, violence, action, sci-fi, gore, gore, and more gore!! Really, the Outbreak trilogy is brilliant and Outbreak: Endplay is spectacular.

  —Jeffa, Amazon reviewer

  Each book in this series just gets better and better. [Outbreak: Endplay] is by far my favorite. Well thought out and written characters, intense horror, and all out zombie fun! I highly recommend this book to any fan of end of the world fiction.

  —Eric S. Brown, author