The Warrior's Beckoning

by Patrick Howard

  “Warrior,” he said, unable to move. “I underestimated you.”

  “That’s an understatement.” I stepped a few feet away from him. I held my hands off to the side, focusing on directing energy into the space between them, forming a white ball that sparked as it grew. Reaching into its center, I threw the ball of energy at the Destroyer. He roared as the ball crashed into him, struggling as his form began to dissipate.

  “This is not over, Warrior,” he said threateningly just before he vanished. I turned to her, and we smiled at each other.

  “Thank you,” she said. Then she, too, began to vanish.

  All went black for a moment. I felt nothing.

  Slowly, I opened my eyes. My vision was a blur. The chief stood beside me. “Good work, son,” he said, extending his hand. I took it, and he pulled me up. Two guards stood at the doorway.

  “We’ll take you to her,” one of them said. I stood, and we entered the break room, which had been torn to shreds. Though many of the guards had survived, they and the building showed the wounds and scars of an intense battle. Bullets had shredded the walls by the open door, and most of the tables were broken in half. Beyond the door, the hall was black with shrapnel. There were no creatures, alive or dead.

  We continued down the hall, past the dent in the wall where I had slammed my shield. Burn marks from the ball of light were further down. Soon we entered into the lobby. It, too, showed battle scars. The wall where the demon had been slain showed six holes and one massive burn mark. We passed through the lobby, the offices, and a maze of corridors and entered into a lab. There she lay, between two machines, now disconnected and deactivated. She did not move.

  “We’ll wait here,” the guards said, standing to the right and left of the doorway. I stepped into the lab and approached her slowly, studying her. She was beautiful…the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Taking her hand gently, I leaned over her and kissed her. She squeezed my hand, returning the kiss.

  Sliding one arm under her legs and the other under her body, I pulled her toward me and lifted her gently, holding her close to my heart. She wrapped her arms around my neck as we broke the kiss slowly.

  I turned, walking to the door, carrying her away. Away from all that had tormented her. Would it follow? I did not know. I did not care. I had found the love of my life. And I would always be her Warrior.

  The Ghost Hunter’s Epilogue

  THE SPIRITS OF Decay surrounded me with scythes raised. It was the end…or so I hoped. All went black as they swung as one, and a sinister voice entered my thoughts.

  You are mine now. You sought to enter the unknown, and so you shall! The voice echoed all around. I was so cold…I could feel nothing but the still darkness. You shall bear witness to what is to come, helpless to intervene. That will be your torture. The pain you will know will not come from my hand but from your own eyes and heart.

  A glimpse of the world passed all around me. The men I had fought with were all dead, and their families were mourning them. The Survivor had become the Specialist, and he was growing stronger. The girl had been taken, trained, and was now being used as a conduit. The company—the people in charge of the facility, who called the shots but never showed their faces—who, what, and where were they? Why did no one beyond the facility hear about the dead or the living who had fought so valiantly to spare the world from the dark forces? My own family was informed of my death—from “accidental work-related injuries”—yet they went about living as if nothing had changed. Such was their way in life, so it was with my death.

  The entity who had bound me to him forever routinely attacked the girl in her dreams, forcing me to observe her pain helplessly. It would bring her to tears, then leave her sobbing. I could only observe from the shadows of the room.

  The girl grew and became stronger. There was another, a man who could pose a threat to the entity.

  “She truly believes that this man, this Warrior of hers, will come to her aid and free her. Foolish girl,” the entity told me. “He gives her hope, and she clings to it.”

  I prayed she would continue to believe.

  “Ghost hunter,” the entity said to me. “They will soon attempt to capture me. The time has come.” It spoke with an evil laugh. The entity entered her mind and was pulled into a vault, leaving me stranded between worlds, observing the chaos that ensued. The entity had established a connection with her mind and could now use her as a conduit through which more dark creatures could enter the world… and slaughter everyone they encountered.

  By the time she was twenty, the girl was quite strong, but still she could not repel the entity. The Specialist had been sent away on an assignment. A familiar-looking security chief did all he could to repel the creatures, but it was not until her Warrior arrived that the creatures could be pushed back.

  The Warrior was in the sewer system, about to enter into the facility, the demons at his heels. He climbed the ladder, and, using what energy I could draw from him, I shut the hatch behind him. As I reached out for him, he took my hand and held it tightly.

  “Warrior,” I said. “You must save her…but before you may do so, you must revisit the demons of your past. Learn from them…conquer them.”

  He held my hand firmly. He locked his leg around the ladder and released his grip on the rungs, grasping my other hand. Our eyes met. Tears welled up, or would have, if I had been alive. He was strong, and his eyes reflected purity.

  “It is too late for me, Warrior,” I said, and he heard the despair in my voice. “But it is not too late for her. Find her. Save her.” I looked behind me then back at the Warrior. My hand trembled in his firm grip. My eyes told my story. The darkness had consumed me, and now it sought to take me back.

  “I won’t let go,” he said to me, holding firmly. I groaned as the forces beyond me pulled at me, but he continued to hold on. I smiled as he held on. A sensation of relief crept into my spirit as I stared into his eyes one last time.

  “You will triumph, I know. Farewell, Warrior,” I said softly. A white cloud puffed from my mouth. My hand vanished. The light awaited me.

  The Reckoning

  SHE CLUNG TO me as I carried her, moving through the dark corridors. The two guards followed, shining their flashlights to illuminate our path. Soon, we met up with the chief. He greeted us with a smile and respected us with a salute.

  “What happens now?” I asked as I set her gently onto her feet. She wrapped her arms around me and leaned against my chest.

  “Well,” he said, looking toward the quarantined room. “The Company will send operatives to assess the nature of the threat and determine the appropriate course of action.”

  “To neutralize it or to study it further?” I asked, peering through the dark glass. What the room contained was unlike anything that had ever been openly encountered, except by those living with night terrors or schizophrenia.

  “The threat it represents cannot be denied,” he said. “If they cannot control it, they will have to destroy it. From what I’ve seen, it is beyond us. It should be destroyed.”

  His radio erupted with chatter. “This is Science Team Alpha; we have entered the facility and are proceeding to the containment cell,” said the voice.

  “Copy that,” the chief replied. Soon, three men in hazmat suits entered. They watched us, me and my love, as they passed and stood before the chief. One studied the dark residue in the room, while another talked to the chief. The third approached the heavy door that sealed the darkness inside.

  “Hold here while we check it out,” said the one talking to the chief. He and the other two opened the door and quickly slipped inside, shutting it behind them. Flashlights flickered as a heavy fog swirled about them, black and thick in form. Static overcame the radios, broadcasting only bits and pieces of chatter. Through the glass, we saw handheld meters light up. Waving them around slowly, the trio probed the darkness. All seemed well, until it seemed as though a dark curtain fell over the glass. I pulled out my own EMF me
ter and infrared thermometer and took some readings. The EMF meter spiked as I held it to the door, well above five milligauss. The temperature outside the door began to drop rapidly, from seventy-two to sixty.

  The temperature dropped still lower.

  “It’s still active.” The team leader keyed over the radio.

  Distorted screams emerged from the radio, and we could see the silhouettes of the team thrashing at the enveloping mass.

  “Alpha Leader, come in!” the chief shouted into the radio. There was no response. We heard more screams. “Alpha Team, respond!” the chief shouted once more, but there was only silence. The door to the containment room began to shake, and a bulge appeared at its center. “Prepare for breach!” the chief yelled to his men.

  “Evac now!” he shouted, turning to us. His men ran to the emergency bunker, opening the door to allow the other survivors to escape. Dozens poured out and ran down the hallway toward the main entrance.

  “It’s coming for me again,” my love said, looking into my eyes.

  “I will not leave you.”

  She smiled at this, holding me tight. The bulge in the door erupted, and a black tendril thrust through, striking me. I was thrown back. Another emerged, wrapping itself around her. One of the guards moved closer to the door and opened fire.

  “No!” I shouted, scrambling to my feet. She met my eyes again, reaching out for me, and I took her hand and held on to her. Another tendril lashed out, slamming down upon me and leaving me dazed on the floor. It swept the guard aside, and she was pulled into the darkness, and I could not reach her.

  “Come on!” the chief said as one of his men helped pick me up from the floor.

  Then everything went blank.

  Inhuman screams filled the darkness I floated in, echoed by a terrible laugh. Figures, shrouded by the darkness, moved in a distance unknown to me. One figure stood before me, her outline matching that of my love.

  “It’s OK,” she said, coming closer. “There was nothing you could have done.”

  “But…I could not save you,” I said, my thoughts echoing. I did not save her. I had failed.

  “You came to me when no others would. Daring a darkness you could not understand, you came to me. You have already saved me by your love alone,” she said, her voice soothing and tranquil. In that moment, I began to realize one truth. It was not a single action that saved the heart. It was our love, and that love fostered actions of goodness. From this, words of love and compassion would be given. To this end, I would go to those in darkness. Yes, I’d go…not to be a hero but to be a servant, just as my Lord did for all of humanity.

  “I will wait for you, my Warrior,” she said as she vanished into the blackness. I was left alone with my thoughts, and only my thoughts. They continued to echo across the dark expanse, thoughts of sorrow and thoughts of courage. A hand rested on my shoulder, offering light where darkness once stood.

  “Awaken!” a strong voice said to me. Opening my eyes, I saw the chief standing over me. We were in a large office, and I was lying on the couch.

  “Rise and shine, son,” the chief said.

  “Where am I?” I said groggily as I sat up. In most ways, it was a typical office, with a desk, a bookshelf, a water cooler, several chairs, and a couch. The odd note was the well-stocked gun rack, complete with SMGs and pistols.

  “We’re in the Company’s HQ,” the chief answered. He sat in a chair next to me. “Son, we’ve awakened something that defies all understanding.”

  “Yeah, I figured that.” I said, shaking my head slightly. “What’s the sitrep?” I asked.

  “After you were hit, my men and I pulled you out, and we evacuated to the HQ just a couple hours before dawn. However, dawn never came. No sun—and no stars in the sky.” He scowled. “We have no contact with anyone else. It’s as if everyone else in the world—or the world itself—has just…vanished. Only those people and places linked to the project remain.”

  “Any theories?” I asked. In my mind, I continued to play back the visions and all the dark entity had said.

  “I think maybe time has been displaced, frozen. It’s like an episode of The Twilight Zone.”

  “An alternate dimension would explain a lot. That could be quantified. Exactly how was this dark mass acquired?” I said, looking out the window. There was nothing to see. It was just blackness, devoid of all light or life.

  “In fact, they tell me that some eggheads did manage to tap into an alternate dimension and channel it into ours using those crystals. I’m thinking that somehow that process has been reversed, and we’ve been sucked into that dimension.” He stood up and peered out at the darkness.

  “That explains everything…and nothing,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Agreed,” the chief said with a grim chuckle.

  If we were in a dark dimension, that would explain the blackness that hung over us and maybe why we seemed to be the only humans in it. However, the idea that the dark entity could pull us in was well beyond my level of comprehension. How it could do that, and for what purposes, eluded my understanding for the moment. Ordinarily, I could spend a few hours deep in thought and I would find the answer—or it would find me, once I opened my mind to it.

  All I knew was that there was still hope, and I had faith that we would ultimately defeat the dark demons. I knew that I had a force of light on my side, though I saw it only in my visions. What role it would play and when it would reveal itself fully remained unknown. Was it just watching me, placing its faith in one man? Or was it waiting for the proper time to come enforce…enforce what? I didn’t know.

  Often I became lost in deep thought following a dream—like the one I’d had that started this all. In that dream, a voice told me that the Lord was preparing his Warrior to face the darkness. The dream told me that God would place his faith in this Warrior, whom he knew would prevail. My full faith lay with God, but the idea that God would place his faith in me was puzzling.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked.

  “I’ve been ordered to quarantine you and to neutralize all witnesses to our research,” he said. “The Specialist is being deployed to terminate the dark mass…and the girl.”

  “I take it you’re not thrilled about these orders?” I said, searching his face.

  “Not one bit,” he said, grimacing. “The problem for you is that my refusal to comply would change nothing. I’m replaceable, so there’s nothing I can do to stop it. However, there’s plenty you can do.” By his tone, I knew I could trust him. His heart longed to save, not destroy. He cared about the girl, too.

  “I understand.”

  “I can’t give you any weapons, but there’s a gun shop not far from the hospital where the two witnesses are. At least, I think the shop will still be there,” he said, cupping his hands to the window to peer out into the darkness. “Gear up, and go to them. Do you have any weapons training?”

  “Army reserves, infantry,” I said, saluting.

  “Good. All right, then. I’ll open the door and point you in the right direction.” He moved to the door. I followed, taking the flashlight that lay beside me. We exited the office and walked down the adjacent hall, stopping at a window. “You understand that I can’t send you out the front door?”

  “Meaning I have to go out this window?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid so. We’re four stories up. There’s a porte cochere below this window. There’s a narrow stone overhang at each floor, thirteen feet from one to the next, and if you hang from this sill, you’ll be just inches from the next ledge. Hang from that, and it’s an easy drop from there to the porch. It’s maybe twenty feet from there to the ground. You’ll have to find your way down from there.” He opened the window.

  “Sounds fun,” I said, looking down at the ledge below.

  “Good luck.”

  I dangled from the open window and dropped straight down onto the stone ledge. It was just wide enough to allow me to turn around and, facing away from building, l
ower myself down, back pressed to the wall, until I could sit on the ledge. I leaned sideways and gripped the rough stone then eased myself off into a dead hang. Keeping my knees flexed, I dropped onto the porte cochere below, landing in a crouch, with my arms held down to equalize the shock. I stood and surveyed the area. The sky was dark, and neither moon nor star shone overhead. The surrounding buildings, big and small, showed no lights. There were cars in the street but none moving. No chatter, no voices, no birds, no sirens…nothing, just an endless silence and an unshakable feeling of dread. The only lights anywhere were the HQ’s emergency lights at ground level, which dimly lit the surrounding area enough for me to see how I could get down to the ground.

  Below the far edge of the porte cochere, which apparently covered the rear service area, was a dented Dumpster, its angled top fortunately closed. I lowered myself over the edge of the roof and dropped on the Dumpster, landing feet first with a loud, metallic thud and half sliding, half running to the ground. Afraid the noise I’d made would alert someone, I kept running, sprinting in the direction of the hospital to find the gun shop.

  When I was about a block away, I could see that the hospital had some dim light showing through several windows. Assuming anyone there would be on alert, I approached using side streets, ducking through alleys and into doorways, though I saw no one. For once, I was glad of the darkness.

  I found the group of shops near the hospital, among them the gun store. I peered inside through the front window. The walls were lined with a variety of firearms, SMGs, assault rifles, shotguns, and tactical gear. The store was unlocked but seemingly empty, and I opened the door and entered cautiously, searching behind the counters and in the back rooms to make sure I was alone. I was.

  I started with my clothes. Miraculously, the first set of black BDUs I pulled from the center shelf were my size, as was the tactical vest and the light pair of combat boots already set out in a box. I slid my necklace around my neck, ensuring that the cross was visible, and placed my God’s Army hat on my head. Now I needed to select my load out for close-quarter combat in the buildings and long-range shooting in the streets.