by Jason Davis
So many questions. He wished he could give someone an answer they would believe.
Who would believe something got into their minds, took them down into the earth, and that when Rob found them, they were lifeless shells. Who knew what had been done to them. Who would believe that, when they got out from down there, the tunnel seemed to be gone? It was filled in with dirt, but traces were still there. It looked like there had once been a hole in the ground. Why else would that grate be there?
He had no explanations for anyone, but they all still turned to him.
He watched as the next window shifted in its frame. Jesus faced a demon, darkness swirling behind it. A creature hovered over the demon, tendrils connecting the two, Jesus looking to be falling back from the thing. Above the demon, the darkness swirled, a ray of light flowing out of Jesus’ chest. Depending on where Rob stood, it either looked like the darkness advanced on the Son of God or the light pushed it away.
The colors at the edges swirled red and orange, like fire around them, burning at them both. It reminded Rob of the sunset he had seen as he had entered the church. He was pretty sure it would be dark by the time he left. He wasn’t sure why he was there, but time was already passing quickly.
The next window sent a chill down Rob’s spine. It wasn’t just a shiver. This was something he felt down to his core. Even his breath came out in a gasp when he saw the man depicted there. He was strung up, his arms outstretched. Fire burned around him, the flames licking, twisting. There was a dark man over him, strings flowing down, holding out the man’s arms, as though he were a marionette.
The man’s smile stretched from ear to ear. He had cold black eyes that when you looked into them, you saw the orange fires burning behind them. It was the man who filled many of his nightmares, and the man Rob didn’t want to ever see again.
He couldn’t look at any more. He turned, nearly running into Father William, who stood behind him. The father caught him, bringing him into his arms to keep him from falling.
“Whoa… You hurry like that and you might get mistaken for one of the altar boys we yell at about running up and down the pews.”
Rob straightened and looked at the smiling face of Father William, noticing the sweet fragrance of cinnamon and roses for the first time. Such a strange combination, but in the chapel, under the cool air, the warm, flickering light of the candles burning around them, it fit with the calming nature of the place. It helped put Rob at ease as he pulled himself free from the man.
“Thank you, Father.”
“No problem. I’ve been wondering when you would come see me.”
“What have you heard?”
“Heard? Is there something to hear? I’ve heard more are missing, but no one…” The father paused, giving Rob an admonishing look, “has said anything more. Have you come to pray for help in finding the children?”
“No… No, I haven’t.”
Rob saw the surprised look on the priest’s face, but it relaxed when he could see Rob working on saying something. Something that was hard for him to get out.
“I found the children.”
“Really? I haven’t heard about that. I guess everyone is too busy celebrating.”
“I didn’t find them alive.”
Rob then told him about how he had found them. He watched the priest’s reaction. The man seemed quite disturbed, but not about what Rob had seen. When he finished, Rob paused for a minute before he asked what he knew he had come there to ask.
“So… What was it?”
The priest gave Rob an appraising look. “Why ask me?”
“While I was down there, I heard your voice in my head. Then you brought me here while I was down there. I heard it earlier, too, when I thought I saw a witch trying to get into my head. I don’t know why, but something tells me it all comes back to you.”
The priest nodded. “And it might. I can’t be certain what you saw down there, but I have heard of things. We have all heard of them, not thinking them real. They are old creatures that have been passed down. Some thought themselves angels, some demons, some gods, and some have called themselves devils. They have given birth to religions.”
“Strange coming from a man of God.”
“I am a man of the one true God. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been things claiming the title.”
“So what are they?”
“I’m not even certain they remember their own names or what they were. They probably only really remember what they have become. When they are awake, that is. Many of them sleep and don’t pay much attention to man. They are there, though, occasionally mingling with us. It isn’t spiritual, mind you. They are not celestial. They are ancient beings who do not die.”
“Then how did I kill it?”
“Who’s to say you did? Something had to fill in that hole you say is no longer there. You didn’t kill it. You may have startled it, but if I’m right, I think the thing had just been awakened. When it was, it was hungry. It took the first child long ago, and had been enjoying that. When more came, it saw a food source and wanted to stock up. Now that something fought back, it went away. Not all these creatures want to be a part of this world. Like I said, they’ve lived a long time. Many are just tired and want to waste away quietly.”
“But others don’t. So you’re saying there are more of these things?”
“Others don’t. As to there being more, there are many things out there. Some have been around since before the heavens and the earth. Other things are more complicated to explain. I think this was one of the ancient ones, here before the heaven, and was tired, wanting to hibernate again.”
“So how did I stop it? I felt this fire, then I could think clearly enough to stop it. How?”
The priest reached forward and grabbed the cross around Rob’s neck. He held it up. It was an old cross, one Rob’s grandmother had given to him when he had followed his dad’s footsteps and become a CPD officer. He knew it had been his grandfather’s before him. She had said it had protected him from many evils until there were just too many. Rob never knew what she meant by that. His grandfather had been an excellent cop. One night, he was gunned down on the streets of Chicago by Capone’s men.
Rob stood and started walking to the door. He was halfway there when he turned to look back at the priest.
"When I was down there, I felt something. It used me to stop it."
"We are God’s servants."
"I'm not sure I can believe in that."
“Rob, it doesn’t take your belief, as God believes in you. You are part of this. The darkness has singled you out and is watching you, trying to get inside you. It is getting more aggressive. It wants you. You have to fight it before you find yourself pulled into the dark.”
Father William stood and gave him a long, hard look, then that warm smile Rob had seen so many times returned. His eyes seemed to sparkle, and the church, even in the fading sun, seemed brighter than just a moment ago.
“Rob, I know you have so many doubts. You’ve seen so much, and many things in your life have been dark. Maybe that’s why it looks for you and toys with you. I just want you to remember the good things in your life, as well. It will help you. You must find your own faith because I can only help you so much.”
Rob turned away, hurrying to get out of there.
“Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,’” the priest called out as Rob left the church.
Outside, the darkness had come, but the path to his car was lit by a single streetlight. The fall chill struck him, the coldness tingling his skin.
He had a wife and child waiting for him. It was time he went home.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Hello. Thank you for reading Into Darkness. I hope you enjoyed it. I can't really say this was the tale I intended to tell when I started the journey. For me, I think the more terrifying story may have been a few revisions and ten year
s ago. That being said, I like this version a lot more and am happy to finally bring this book to publication.
I had the initial concept while I was in high school, not yet able to drive. The first draft was written before I finished school. We won't get into how long ago that was. What amazes me about the book you just read is how little has changed. The first chapter is nearly the same.
This book has been with me for a long time, shelved many times as I always felt it was missing...something.
Then Rob Alletto came along. When I finished Inside the Mirrors, he demanded to be a part of the Invisible Spiders trilogy. When I finished those first two novels, he pitched me an idea of adding him to Into Darkness, creating a trilogy with his character that would be parallel to the Invisible Spiders trilogy, but in a larger Edge of Darkness series. It took some convincing on his part, but when a character is as loud as Rob is, you eventually give in.
And then there is the other aspect of the story, which is how much of me I put into it. This book is dedicated to my grandmother as there are moments that remind me of her. I grew up in Wenona, Illinois, where we had a coal dump and a consolidated school. My grandmother always warned about “them hobos that sleep in the woods around the coal dump”. I can tell you that I explored every inch of that slag pile, never finding any signs of anyone living up there.
I also feel this book represents three stages of my life. Bobby, the brat only child; David, the insecure and shy teenager who never felt like he fit in; Rob, the father who lives in constant fear that something will happen and he’ll never see his family again.
So there is a lot to this book. I can't really say it was intended that way because Bobby and David were elements that remained unchanged from that first draft.
* * * *
So, I bet you are wondering where the idea originally came from. It partly came after the miniseries It premiered on television. I loved the idea of kids facing some hidden evil. I didn't want to do clowns, that had been done, but I wanted to explore a base fear that everyone has on some level. I wanted to write about the fear of the dark and what would happen when that fear came alive.
It was as I rode the bus home from school one day that I thought about having the evil presence live beneath the coal dump. At the time, my idea for the waking was an earthquake...which I hated because earthquakes didn’t happen in Illinois. It was too easy an explanation...too clichéd. Interestingly enough, shortly after I wrote off that idea. Illinois had an earthquake.
I hope you enjoyed Into Darkness.
Until next time…