It was to my left in moments, snapping its jaws. I stumbled away but it appeared again just seconds later, crouching in the bushes to my right and leaping upwards when I tried to scamper past.
The forest groaned around me as my arms pumped and my legs flew me across the park. Every root that was slightly elevated from the ground hooked my shoes, tripping me up and slicing my speed in half. I didn’t stop. I didn’t stop even though I couldn’t see it pursuing me anymore. I didn’t stop even when I reached the exit and flew wildly into the streets. I didn’t even stop when I turned onto my driveway and body slammed into the front door, praying for it to be unlocked. I had dropped my bag but I don’t remember where. I ran in and slammed the door shut with a bang that shook the house.
What the hell was that? I have never seen a dog that big before? I ran my hand across my forehead, blinking against the dimming shadows sprayed across the floors.
Something wasn’t sitting right. I crunched my eyes closed and buried my face into my folded arms, scratching the back of my mind for answers. But every time all I could pull up was the nasty dream, before I woke in hospital. Was it even a dream…?
Impossible! It had to be. Otherwise I would be a walking monster with leather bound skin and long gaping claws… wait a minute. My neck shot up. Wait… that thing.
That creature that just chased through the forest, it had been in my nightmare as well. I recognised its bulky body and silver flaring eyes shredding through the shadows like a blade. I recognised the way its chest protruded out from its body as if it had worn its skeleton on the outside. The canine head tilting at the scent of my exhaling breath like it was searching for a hot meal.
“You’re supposed to be dead…”
“What the-?” My back slammed into the door frame startled. There was a tall silhouette of a man towering over the top of me, hidden behind a curtain of black. No, he was literally wearing the shadows over his clothing; I could see the straining points from where the darkness fell unnaturally over him.
“Come...” He held his arm out and I shook my head in refusal.
“How the hell did you get into my house?! Who are you??” I jumped up immediately. The man was shorter than I was, but not by much.
“Jordon – you must listen…”
“How do you know my name? Get out of my house or I’m calling the cops!” He was concealed behind the darkness, the shadows keeping his form distorted and unclear. I turned back towards the front door where I wrenched it open only to have the wild animal prowling by my door step. This time it was a different beast, the head of a bull but the firm body of a lion. It snarled its teeth at me that I fell onto my back foot.
The moment I hesitated the dark hooded man hooked his arm around my neck, muffling me into silence. I fell obediently into the darkness, feeling the man’s arms tighten and drag downwards through the floor and beyond the dirt.
“It’s fine – you’re going to be okay.”
Okay? How could I possibly be okay? But as long as he held his arms on me I was kept sedated. We fell weightlessly, like we were gliding through layers of soft smoke. My clothes raffled in our descent through the earth, but it had felt like I was just being suspended in the air and that the earth was the thing falling around me.
Chapter Four:
The smooth touch of a solid surface soon cupped me from underneath as my weight pressed into the ground. A smell of chilled water blew against my face, abruptly slapping me awake. I was dumped onto my stomach against a cool black glass floor. I craned my neck upwards, able to feel a strange pressure push against me like gravity was trying to pin me down. Around me was just a dark, black dome that stretched on seemingly forever.
Sharp sparks of electric blue lit up the mouth of the dark globe, the hot white light firing upwards like a solar beam into the abyss above us. Where the light emulated was a large gaping hole and a heavy pull that was vacuuming air in. I managed to get to my knees when a distant pair of figures, they too dosed underneath thick cloaks approached the centre light. Behind them moved the large monsters that lowered their necks at the edge of the drop, before opening their mouths and releasing more electric blue slush into the pit. There was what sounded like stretched wails when the blue smoke merged with the main bulk before it was swallowed down.
“What is this place?”
“It’s what we call The Drop Off. Cute name no?”
The man that kidnapped me stood patiently still, his hands held behind his back and the tip of his hood now tilted backwards. He was an old man with a white beard running along his jaw line. But his hair on top of his head, whatever was left of it, was of pure golden blonde. He had an interesting tattoo marked under his right eye; it seemed like a distorted checker pattern and reached down along his neck. “It was hard to get you alone, harder than I thought.”
“What the hell are you? What do you want with me?”
“My name is Christophe; I am a Reaper Jordon, as you are.”
“What are you talking about?”
The man knelt down and offered me his hand which at first I was reluctant before taking his wrist and hauling myself up. It was terribly cold with the continual wind pulling me into the mouth of the dome. No wonder they all wore heavy cloaks.
“Is this a dream?” I mumbled by which he laughed coolly.
“No dear boy, I’m afraid not. You don’t remember what happened to you? The silver eyes and black scale skin? How about the image of you running and getting struck down by a car before one of your classmates hammered a rock into the back of your skull?”
“It was just a nightmare-”
“No, it was a memory. A memory mind you that should’ve been your last. Jordon you are one of us now, you are a Reaper. Come I’ll show you-” He touched the back of my elbow lightly and ushered me onwards.
So that night… it wasn’t all in my head? How could that be possible? If I had died in the forest, than how am I still able to walk around now? How am I able to go to school, talk to my friends and eat my meals if Luke had truly beaten my head in?
“This is all so messed up-”
“It really is, but it can be easily fixed. You see Jordon, you’re lucky enough to become a part of our lovely family. Here-” Christophe motioned behind his shoulder to the wild beast that followed us, the half lion and half bull abomination. It reared its head up as Christophe laid his hand along its neck tenderly. I stiffened my stance just in case but the creature did not lurch forward, “She is the most valuable creature you’ll ever have. I call her Bones, to everyone else she is my Goon. We all get one and one only.”
“Goon?” I repeated. The creature peered inwards just as cautious as I was stepping back, its slit nostrils flaring in its attempt to catch my scent. It sneezed loudly and shook its head.
“Oh – Ha I think she likes you” Christophe laughed before motioning me towards the electric blue light. He pointed to another Demon who walked obediently behind its Master, the blue smoke seeping and dissolving from its tightly bound jaws.
“We have what some people will argue is the most important job, we collected Polveri, or fresh souls and take them to The Drop Off. It’s real simple lad, all you have to do is take your Goon to a recent death and once the Goon has the Polveri all gobbled up tight, escort them back here and drop it into the pit. Bing bang boom, and you’re all set.”
“You’re…. insane! I have no intention of doing anything with... these things,” Christophe’s Goon Bones snarled as I pointed at her, “I just want to go home. Can’t you find… someone else? Wait, what am I saying? This is obviously a dream. I need to wake up…”
“You’re just nervous. Look-” Christophe put two fingers to his lips and let out a loud piercing whistle. “I’m sure you two have already met.”
Beyond the dark walls were the distinct crash of lightning and the roar of a heavy animal. It ran through the shadows as if running across from the other side of the room. The silver eyed monster stepped through the darkness not two steps
away from us. It was even bigger up close, each step of its sharpened paws scraped against the glass floor. It paid no attention to me at first. It just craned its neck and shook its coat clean like a wet dog. The other Goon, Bones roared at its presence, her head lowered in a hostile stance. The silver eye monster mimicked the aggressive welcome, snarling and curling its lips back.
“That thing is from the forest. It tried to kill me.”
“Impossible.” Christophe laughed, “You’re already dead”
“Stop saying that!”
The silver eyed Goon finally swung its head over to where I yelled and pinned its canine ears against its skull. The eyes blazed like hot coal on my face and its unnatural growl caused my skin to shiver. Despite it all, there was an undeniable sense of connection, like this beast had been with me my entire life. The thought of it made me sick.
“Jordon – hey Jordon I would stop doing that if I was you.” Christophe whispered desperately. “You’re emotions are portrayed through the Goon, keep calm.”
“I don’t want to be here!” I demanded again. The wolf like creature turned and pounced at me aiming for my chest. I cringed and threw myself backwards away from its snapping jaws just as Christophe ordered Bones to tackle the attacking beast to the floor. “No! Raix! Down!”
It was a messy fight. Monster against monster, Goon against Goon, but Bones in the end was able to turn the silver eyed wolf onto its back and pin it underneath a lock of her jaws.
Christophe leant over me, “Don’t mind him, just eager.”
“Are you kidding me?” I shouted distraught.
“I’m not kidding, congratulations, he’s all yours. His previous owner called him Raix – he won’t answer to anything else.”
“If he’s meant to be my pet, then why is he attacking me?”
“Hmm... I wouldn’t call him your pet. If anything, you belong to him now. These creatures are very territorial, best you get some control over Raix before you bump into any other Reapers. They won’t appreciate it if your Goon attacks theirs.”
I paused for a moment, finally soaking in the frost touch of the air around me with the weight of Christophe’s words. This place definitely felt real, not like that moment you realise you are in a dream and everything has a numb detachment. This is real. The denial of what was really happening began slowly morphing into a bitter reality. The longer I stood here the less it felt like a dream.
“Does this mean… will I never see my family again?”
Christophe touched his chin in deliberation. “If you do pass them on the surface, they won’t recognise you. I’m sorry Jordon, but the next time you see your family is when you go to collect their soul if you are unfortunate enough to get that job. You have a new role now, one of a Reaper.”
“Why have I been sent to be a Reaper? Am I being punished?”
“A form of punishment yes, but you didn’t do anything wrong. Bones…” Christophe whistled again as his Goon sourly stepped off Raix and went to him. “Your time on the surface world is over- Raix will show you what to do-”
The spilt moment that Bones stepped off Raix, the skeleton like wolf wrestled back onto its paws and blasted a beam of electricity from its mouth. Not expecting the abrupt attack, Christophe held his hands to his face as Bones threw her body between them, taking the hit. Raix then charged at me, mouth opened wide and his pearl white teeth glistening with salvia. My heart jumped into my throat. Unable to blink Raix leapt into the air before closing his jaws around my head. Christophe was screaming, but I couldn’t hear him over a constant beeping -
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEP!
I jolted upwards. I was in my bed. My room. It was morning as my alarm clock had been ringing for at least half an hour. I had slept in. Crap!
As I sat up, the ringing from my alarm clock was piercing my temples, shooting a throbbing pain right across my forehead. Not only that but my eye was itching again like I had been scratching at it all night.
I got up and went to the mirror in my room when I noticed a black print, like someone had coloured my cheek and over my right eye with black permanent marker. I panicked and scrubbed at the black ink, but it did not smudge with my rubbing. I bolted into the bathroom, turned the tap on full ball and dosed my face underneath the stream. The water hit my skin and ran down my face, following the bend of my neck and saturating my clothes. When I glanced back into the mirror, the black tattoo was gone and Evan was peeking around the bathroom door. I jumped startled before turning the tap off.
“You scared me.”
“What are you doing?” Evan asked as he stepped into the bathroom. He was also still in his pyjamas and his brown hair knotted like a birds nest.
“Just… just washing my face.”
Another strange dream… but a part of me felt like what I experience last night went beyond my imagination. Evan reached over me and got his tooth brush out.
“Aren’t you late for school?”
He looked up at me with his eyebrow raised and arrogantly laughed, “It’s Saturday idiot. Plus school is closed over the break.” It was then I noticed a red ring around his neck, purple finger prints pressed into his skin and around one eye was a softening smudge of blue.
“Who did this?” I grabbed his chin and he immediately torn his face from me.
“I fell-” He dismissed and turned to leave. I grabbed his shoulder and dragged him back, forcing his face upwards into the light.
“Was it Nathan? Ange? Those kids from school?” I inspected the black eye despite Evan trying to scrunch his face up, making it hard to see.
“Don’t. I said I’m fine.”
“Evan…” I sighed, feeling like I had said these words a thousand times before but they were always somehow getting lost out there in the large world, “You can come to me if someone is bullying you. I don’t care if it’s mum or Nathan or dad or any of those boys at school.” Evan looked up at me for a moment, his eyes large like they were sponges soaking in my words.
“I said I fell. What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting… really strange.” He screwed his face up, almost like he could read the confusion through my eyes.
“Umm, I just haven’t been sleeping well. Strange nightmares.”
“What is it?”
I let my hands go and ran them through my hair, “Ever since that night, it’s just… where did you find me… exactly?”
Evan pulled his face back as if stumped by the question. “I didn’t find you… You came home but...” He paused to search around himself, before motioning for me to wait. He went to his room and returned with what looked like my uniform.
“I bumped into you just outside the house when I was taking the trash out before school. Your uniform was covered in this gunk…” He handed the clothes over. The uniform had massive holes torn through the back of it and the colour was washed with what looked like blood and dirt.
“I couldn’t see very well, but it had looked like you were being dragged by this massive dog, but I only saw it for a second, as soon as it saw me it ran away I think. I dunno… I was still half asleep. You weren’t making any sense, it was like you were drunk or sleeping walking.”
“A massive dog?”
“That’s what it looked like. I know mum would’ve gotten really angry if she had seen your clothes so I took you inside and helped you get changed and wash the dirt off you. You weren’t talking to me… or even registering that I was even there. That’s when I noticed your head wound. I had thought you had gotten drunk or something, like Nathan when he passes out in the front yard. But you had blood all over your hair and down your neck… it was really scary. I had no choice but call for help. First I tried Mark but then I had to tell mum, and she took you straight to the hospital.”
Then it’s all true… “No kidding.” My time with my family, it was really running out.
“You really don’t remember anything?” Evan asked again with his brows raised.
Doubtfully I answered, “I’m not sure
anymore.”
Downstairs Ange could be heard calling for Evan as he glanced wearily behind his shoulder. Then, turning back to me Evan held the toothbrush up pointing to my face.
“Hey – don’t forget I need help with that piano piece. The end of year concert is coming up and I can’t get stuck again with no one there. It’s so embarrassing.”
“Of course.” I ruffled his hair before turning my tone into a serious note, “Hey that night must remain a secret between you and me, okay?”
“Kay- But you have to explain everything to me later.”
“Deal.”
“EVAN?”
“Gotta go-” Evan popped the tooth brush into his mouth before racing down stairs.
***
That day I went back to the park where the monster had chased me home. With the day light illuminating every nook and corner, the suspense from the walk was lessened. I had found my dropped school bag in the middle of the path, exactly at the spot where I turned and bolted for my life. Again I touched my right cheek, remembering Christophe’s tattooed scar across his eye and how it rained down his neck. I also made sure to check in the surrounded shrubs, making sure Raix or any other Goon weren’t stalking my movements. Later on I went out to visit Anita at her home. She invited me in and served me lunch, her parents having gone out to the markets earlier.
“What’s up?” she asked as she set down a cup of tea.
“Why did you tell Mr Ringwood that I saw Luke last? I told you that I hadn’t.”
Anita glanced up a little uncomfortable, “Oh. I must’ve accidently said it in passing.”
“Anita, the truth -”
She put her cup down and chewed nervously on her lower lip, as she always did when unsettled.
“Alright, I had been speaking to Luke that night-” She softly whispered, “he told me something that... that really made me feel uneasy. That night, as I said we had a really nasty fight and he ran off swearing to ‘take you down a peg’. I was so worried, I tried calling you but you never picked up. Then I tried Luke, but he didn’t speak up either. When I eventually went back to his house, Luke was really... distressed and panicked about something. He had blood on his hands; well I thought it was blood. It looked like he had tried to rinse his palms using his shirt and the tap outside. I demanded that he tell me what he did, but he just pushed me away.”
My Demonic Ghost Book two (The Reapers 2) Page 4