by Stuart Jaffe
“Where do we find them?”
“Probably at your feet.”
Roni gazed down. Numerous stones covered the ground. But all were gray. She bent down and touched one smooth looking stone — gray dust bunched into a small pile as her finger pushed it aside. Underneath, she saw the dark red coloring. Snatching it up, she held it between her thumb and forefinger. “Is this one?”
“Yes,” Elliot said. “That is exactly what you seek.”
Sweeping her hand in a wide arc across the ground, she discovered over a dozen kyolo stones mixed in with pebbles, rocks, and a few stones of varying colors. She picked out seven kyolo stones and placed them in a small pouch that tied to her belt loop. Her body relaxed slightly — she had succeeded. When they got back to the bookstore, she would contact Kenneth Bay, deliver the stones, and find out how to use them to recover her Lost Time. It had been a difficult trek, but feeling the stones bumping against her thigh made it worthwhile.
Standing, she said, “Okay, let’s go back and …”
Elliot walked away from her — his end of the chain unclipped and dragging behind him like a metallic tail.
“Sonuvabitch,” she muttered. Grabbing the chain around her waist, she yanked on it three times. Then she unclipped it, letting it clatter on the ground. Five minutes. She could get him back before then. Even if she had to knock him in the head to do it.
With fists clenched, she followed him down a street lined with cracked lamps. He halted in front of a fallen tree blocking his way. The top of it had smashed through the window of a two-story home. When he turned around and spied her, he scowled.
“You have your stones. Go back to Gram and Sully.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
“You can all come back for me in a few days. I will be fine.”
Answering his statement, the deep breath and the rapid clicks. Roni marched down the street with her hand extended. “Don’t mess around. Come on. Time to go.”
“You are not my mother.”
“I’ll be a police officer in a second if you don’t get moving. I’ll bend your arm behind your back and break it, if you make me.”
Elliot raised his cane. “Do you really think you have the ability to stop me? Go back to Gram. She knows the rest of my story. She will know what to do for me.”
Roni stopped in the middle of the street. Elliot was right, of course — she could not follow through on her threat. She had no special powers. Elliot would never hurt her, but if he was determined to stay in this universe — and clearly, he was — then she could not stop him.
“Please,” she said, throwing on a puppy dog look that had always melted his heart when she was a child. “I need you.”
“Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I promise I will return. In fact, when I get back, I will explain to you why …”
His voice trailed off as his gaze lifted from her face to something behind her. Her muscles locked and her pulse quickened. She could feel its presence looming over her. The fear registered on Elliot’s face which caused Roni’s stomach to knot. And then she heard it — the throaty breath and the hard clicks.
Chapter 14
Roni turned around like a windup toy running low on power. Her arms hung out but they barely moved. Her fingers had locked spread apart. Her eyes refused to blink.
The creature clung sideways to a lamppost. About the size of Roni’s torso, it looked like a late day shadow — grayish-black with a soft, uneven outline. It had numerous legs, at least six, but such details were difficult to discern. The creature looked out-of-focus. She could see the way its body segmented like an insect, the way the lower-body had more hair, the way the upper-body looked hard like a carapace, the way its head combined both hair and shell. And its eyes — beads of red shimmering behind the filter that surrounded the creature.
Roni knew exactly what she looked at. The legs, the black hair, the shape of its lower-and upper-body, the demon-like eyes — it all added up to one horrendous name.
Hellspider.
“Walk to me,” Elliot said, barely above a whisper. “Slowly.”
Roni moved her left foot back, and the hellspider opened its mouth, bared its needle-teeth, and growl-hissed at her. She did not move the right.
“It is okay,” Elliot said.
She could hear him moving his arms and pictured him holding his cane up as he prescribed a spell through the air. But a new sound broke her growing hope. Off to the left, a second hellspider clattered over a pile of brick rubble. Another set of clicks announced the arrival of a third hellspider. This one maneuvered along a wall until it looked down from the second floor.
“Elliot? Are you ready yet?” she said.
“I am trying, but I need more time.”
“We don’t have it.” With hellspiders on three sides and a fallen tree behind them, they were pinned. Roni guessed that the creatures had not attacked yet only because they were not sure what to make of Elliot’s hand motions. But that caution would not last long. “Forget the spell right now. We’ve got to get somewhere safe.”
The first hellspider once more growl-hissed. The other two launched towards Roni. Without thought, she dropped to the ground. Not a good move. The two hellspiders fell upon her. Every part of her body ignited as the creatures pummeled her with their legs.
But it only lasted seconds.
She heard Elliot grunting, and looking upward, she saw that one hellspider had been thrown back into the rubble pile. Elliot smashed the end of his cane into the second creature.
“Stand,” he said.
Roni clambered to her feet as the lead hellspider lowered from the lamppost. Elliot grabbed Roni’s hand and guided her toward the nearest doorway — a house on their right. The hellspiders rushed behind their leader, and all three approached. But they did not attack. Cocking their heads, their eyes followed Elliot’s cane as he waved it left and right.
Edging toward the door, he said, “When we get inside, run for the back exit. And pray there is one.”
Roni opened the door and inched into the entrance. She moved aside and watched as Elliot cleared the jamb. Not waiting for his command, she slammed the door shut. Through small windows at the side, Roni saw the hellspiders jump at the loud bang of the door. She raced down the hallway, following Elliot through a kitchen and toward the back door. They hurtled over a few wooden stairs, crossed a backyard, down an alley, and emerged on another town street.
Waving with one hand, Elliot said, “This way.”
Roni hurried to catch up. They jogged across the street and up several blocks. At each corner, Elliot peeked around the edge before leading them further along. When they reached a building that poked outward into the street like an overstuffed belly, Elliot stopped. He touched the building at a spot near his knee, and a round door slid aside.
“Go in,” he said.
Roni ducked as she entered. Once inside, Elliot sealed the door with the touch of another unseen button. They were in a store — Roni could tell that much — but the grime-covered windows let only dim light through. A stench of rot permeated the air.
“Into the back,” he said.
She kept close as he led the way through an aisle of boxed goods — smiling faces on brightly colored cardboard, each mouth ready to devour bowls of food. Crossing to another aisle, she saw open tables with mounds of rotted and molding fruits. At least, she thought they were fruits. The label did not matter. She had seen enough to confirm they were in a grocery.
When they reached the back of the building, Elliot pressed himself into a corner. “I will get us out of here safely, but you must make sure I have time to do so. Can you do that?”
“I don’t really have a choice.”
“Not if you want to live.”
In his right hand, Elliot held his cane at a slight angle. With his left, he traced a complicated pattern in the air. Roni could not follow all the movements, but the sharp downward motion that began it repeated several times. She wanted to
ask him how long he needed, but she also knew better than to interrupt — doing so would only require him to start over.
Guess I’ll defend him until this works. Or I die. One or the other.
She needed a weapon. Rushing along the back of the store, she glanced up each aisle. At the end, she discovered the source of the horrible stench — the corpse of a rotund person, half their belly excavated by bugs and animals. A shelf had collapsed, much of it leaning on the body, pushing more of its foulness into the air. But on the far side of the mottle-skinned form, she saw something that made her want to scream in frustration — a metal pole. A weapon. Sticking out from the darkness beneath the shelves.
She looked back at Elliot. Maybe she could find a knife or something equally sharp. No. She wouldn’t last ten seconds fighting hellspiders with a knife. But that pole would give her distance.
Gripping the shelf, she tried to lift it. No luck. It had been bent and wedged in where it fell. She tried to think of another way to move it, but she had to assume the hellspiders would be upon them any moment. No time to be squeamish.
She rolled her lips into her clamped mouth and held her breath. Squatting next to the body, she cringed as she reached over the decomposing flesh. Her finger graced the edge of the pole, but she could not snag it.
“Shit.” She got on her knees, swallowed down the urge to vomit, and pressed against the corpse until she could grab the pole. With the metal in her hands, she shot back away and stumbled into a display of crunchy food in burlap-type sacks.
The reek wafted over with her, but at least she had the pole. About three feet long, it must have been used to keep the shelf up. Long enough to give her some room to fight. It didn’t weigh much, but banging it on the floor showed her it could take a few hits and not bend.
She rushed back to Elliot. Though his eyes had closed, he continued motioning through the air around his cane — never once accidentally bumping it. When she was a teenager, she once walked into his apartment while he meditated. He took no notice of her, so she stood in the doorway and watched him for a while. The serene look on his face at that time left her feeling the same — calm and at peace.
Sitting in the back of a grocery, Elliot displayed none of that ease. His brow wrinkled as he concentrated, and his motions lacked all the peaceful grace that teenage girl once saw. Elliot was worried and trying hard to finish before the hellspiders arrived.
But he could not rush those hands or the results. Planting the end of the pole down, Roni stood a few feet in front of him, and she waited. I am the last line of defense.
More accurately, she was the only line of defense.
A loud whine of metal from the front reverberated throughout the store. She gripped the pole in both hands and crouched in a stance she hoped would be good for fighting. Three bangs followed, and the door careened into the store, smashing through several shelves of glass items. They shattered, riddling the floor with tiny shards that tinkled like a chandelier.
Then Roni heard it. Deep, throaty breath. Rapid clicks.
In the dim light, she found it difficult to make out the details of the far aisles. She had to assume that at least one hellspider would come from there — thought she could hear it, too. She caught sight of another as it vaulted atop the shelves and gazed down at her. And the third?
She heard it charge from her left side. She had thought she could see that side fine, but what she mistook for a shadow now moved like a stampeding bull. Jumping back, she swung the pole and clocked the hellspider in the side of the head — all luck, but it worked. The hellspider slid across the floor and smacked against the wall. Though still conscious, it wobbled as it struggled to stand again.
The other two growl-hissed as they took the offensive. Roni whirled back, letting the pole take the lead. The hellspider from above dodged her attack and regrouped at her left flank. Watching it carefully, she heard the other one too late. From out of the dark, it launched towards her. Two shadowy legs bashed against her — one connecting with her hip, the other knocking her in the head.
She dropped to the floor. The metal pole clanged and rolled away. Rubbing her temple, she tried to sit up, but another shadowy limb slammed into her side. She fell to the floor.
From her back, she lifted her head. All three hellspiders closed in. They opened their greedy mouths. Saliva dribbled off their teeth. They were hungry.
Roni thought of the corpse on the other side of the store. These things had eaten everyone — or at least, the parts they wanted. Roni and Elliot were warm, fresh meat.
The lead hellspider reared back on four legs and jumped into the air. Roni thrust her arm up as if she could stop the attack. To her shock, the hellspider froze in the air. It hovered above her, wiggling its legs without effect. Then it slid in an arc downward to the ground as if stuck on the outside of a glass dome.
A dome?
She looked behind her. Elliot stood with his cane held high above his head and his left hand glowing pale red. His arms shook with effort and his face betrayed the deep concentration he exerted. Roni had a million questions flooding her mind, but survival instincts kicked in.
She jumped to her feet. “Can we leave now?”
Elliot walked forward, and Roni stayed close by his side. As they moved, the invisible dome moved with them, pushing the hellspiders back. Growl-hissing erupted from the three creatures, but they retreated each time Elliot stepped ahead. Though slow-going, Roni moved at Elliot’s pace.
Proceeding up one aisle, the field around them shoved boxes aside. Even the shelving bowed away from them. When they reached the exit — now a ragged hole where the entranceway had been — Elliot turned back to face the hellspiders. Two of the creatures shot forward and rammed the dome. They only succeeded in bruising their heads.
“Outside,” Elliot said, his voice strained.
Roni obeyed. When she stepped onto the sidewalk, she felt a warm tingling as she walked through the dome. Looking back, Elliot had one foot on the wall and the other in the store. Easing backwards, he ducked. His hands stretched forward, and the tip of his cane still worked inside the store.
“Be ready,” he said.
Ready for what?
Motioning a different pattern in the air, Elliot scurried backwards in her direction. His hand still glowed, but the light dimmed. As he came near her, the hellspiders made more noise before crawling through to the sidewalk.
Roni finally saw it all — like an open umbrella the dome would not fit through the opening in the wall. Elliot had to get Roni out and then himself before he could contract its area of effectiveness. Now, with the closed dome in his hand, the hellspiders moved freely. They bolted toward Roni, but Elliot had already reached her. He opened his palm, spun his hand in the air, and she heard a sizzle as the dome reformed around them.
But Elliot stumbled into her arms. Sweat soaked his brow. The hellspiders scratched at the dome, growl-hissed at it, and paced around its perimeter. Though they could not find a way in, they seemed to understand that Elliot would not be able to hold the dome forever.
“Come on,” Roni said, ducking under the arm that held his cane. “Lean your weight on me, and we’ll get back to Gram and Sully.”
Limping up the street, Roni guided Elliot toward the opening to the book and the caverns. They had to go around the block. Having seen the difficulty Elliot faced getting them safely out of the store, Roni thought it best to avoid passing through the house again.
The hellspiders never let up their attacks. Either the creatures weren’t too bright and thought they could muscle their way through the dome, or they were smarter than expected and they were testing for weakness. Or they were starving.
One other possibility came to mind, and it bothered Roni the most — the hellspiders might be attacking simply to keep the pressure on. To intimidate.
As they turned the corner, all thoughts of hellspiders vanished. Roni stumbled, nearly fell to her knees, as she stared at the empty street. How long had they bee
n? Certainly more than five minutes. But the idea that Gram would truly reel in her chain, that she would close the book, that any part of her could sacrifice her own granddaughter — Roni’s mind went numb.
Elliot shoved her as he moved ahead. “Get to the pathway.”
“What pathway?”
“The gash floating in the air — our way back through the book.”
Of course. The book was still open. Roni could see the opening in the air — the pathway. Hobbling onward, they reached the halfway point in the street, when the pathway shimmered as if behind a clear waterfall.
Her heart jolted. Was that what it looked like when a book closed?
But a figure stepped through. A boxy, stout figure with a large chest and a stern, determined expression — Gram. She had a chain crossing over her front to form an X. It stretched back through the pathway, presumably to Sully. As Gram took in her surroundings, the hellspiders stopped attacking the dome.
Before Roni could think what to do, her instincts kicked into action. She burst through the warm tingle of the dome and sprinted towards Gram. “Go back!”
Gram smiled at her, but the smile faded fast. Roni didn’t need to hear the growl-hisses and the thundering of twenty-some feet chasing behind her. Waving for Gram to turn back, she pressed onward.
But Gram did not listen. She released a new chain from her sleeve and spun it over her head like a cowboy preparing to lasso a calf. Her eyes locked just behind Roni.
It might work. If Roni could run straight by Gram, the hellspiders would follow. Gram could strike with her chain, whip it across all three, and hopefully injure them enough for Elliot to make it to the pathway. Yes, Roni could see it all happen as if they had planned it that way all along.
Then Roni tripped.
She hit the ground hard, rocks and dirt finding their way beneath her damp clothes as she tumbled forward. The hellspiders raced by her, but two of them made tight arcs and curved back. The lead hellspider continued after Gram.