by A. I. Nasser
This is absurd. I’m nuts. This whole thing is nuts. I’m going to get killed because of this.
Still, she kept her foot on the gas and pushed on, her eyes taking in the various places where the flashing lights and orange flames acted like beacons of disaster. She could almost see the flames curl into fingers, gesturing for her to come closer.
At the intersection with North Main Street, she stopped, trying to decide which way to go. Up ahead she could see the orange glow coming from Maureen’s house, just a few streets away where the fire fighters would have probably found the mangled body of the woman they had run over.
Or maybe they haven’t. Maybe she’s waiting for you around the corner, that same smile on her face, and her arms outstretched and ready for a big, juicy hug.
Aley shuddered and shook her head. No, Kyle had said that the demon was in the Sheriff. The woman they had hit was most definitely dead, and Aley didn’t want to even imagine what her body looked like right now.
The police station. Most recent fire, right?
Aley took a deep breath and turned right onto North Main Street, pressing down on the gas as she sped towards the second fire up ahead. She didn’t ease her foot off the gas pedal, scared that if she slowed down even a bit, she’d lose what little courage was left and would turn around again. For Kyle, she kept thinking. She was doing this for him, buying him time, making sure that whatever was after him would not find him before he finished whatever it was he thought he needed to do.
A little heads up would have been nice.
She was working on nothing more than faith here. Not faith in some higher power, but the small amount of belief she had that Kyle knew what he was doing. She had no idea what happened to him when he had grabbed that knife. All she could attest to was the shock of seeing him spasm like an epileptic patient on overdrive. It was his sheer conviction that made her believe that she could be of use right now. The look in his eyes. The confidence she had seen there that no matter what happened, he had this under control.
You’re kidding, right?
The doubt gnawed at her, and she quickly pushed it back. There was nothing else she could do, really.
That’s not true. You can run.
But she wasn’t going to do that. She had had the chance to do so, but refused to leave him behind. Stupid, but she had done it all the same. There was no turning back now. She was in it to the end.
She drove past the remains of the Kent Memorial Library, the sirens louder now as she neared the burning police station and the blazing flames that reached up to the sky like fingers trying to pull the stars down upon them. She slowed the car down, made sure no one was behind her, and began to turn onto Johnson Road when an explosion thundered through the night and made her scream.
The car swerved as she tried to regain control of the wheel, and she brought it to an abrupt stop near the curb. Aley quickly turned in her seat and stared in shock as a ball of flames rose in the distance, for a few seconds illuminating the night sky in a bright, orange glow.
Third one tonight. They say all good things come in three’s, right?
Aley felt her heart hammer in her chest, and her breathing quickened to the edge of panic. A new fire meant the demon was moving. The police station was not her destination anymore, and the possibility of her being the first to reach the new inferno scared her into a state of complete paralysis.
Sirens screamed as a fire engine raced past her and woke her from her stupor. Without thinking, she shifted the car into drive, pushed down on the gas, and with a screech of tires brought the car around and followed.
***
Kyle inspected the room only briefly before he turned around and thanked Paula. He waited, the blonde watching him carefully, and attempted a smile that he knew was far from convincing.
“I’ll be okay,” he said.
“No offense,” Paula replied, “but that’s not what I’m worried about.”
Kyle frowned in confusion.
“You’re not going to burn the inn down, are you?” she asked.
“No,” Kyle responded. “I don’t actually start the fires.”
Paula nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. Kyle watched her for a few seconds before he asked, “Anything else?”
“No, why?”
Kyle sighed. “Listen, I have no idea what’s going to happen to me on the other side,” he said. “I’d rather you not be in the room for this.”
“I’d like to keep an eye on the place, if you don’t mind,” Paula argued.
“Listen, if all hell breaks loose, do you really want to be here?”
Paula opened her mouth, hesitated, then closed it and shook her head.
“Good,” Kyle said. “Wait for me downstairs. If all goes well, it should be over pretty quickly.”
“You don’t sound too convincing.”
“Well, then we’re both going to have to hope for the best.”
Paula eyed him for a few seconds, shook her head in frustration, and gave the room a quick one-over, as if committing everything into memory for inspection later. Kyle thought it was cute, if not a little out of place.
She was about to leave, when she turned to him and pointed an accusing finger in his face. “Just don’t break anything,” she said.
“Least of our worries,” Kyle replied.
Their eyes met for a few seconds before she sighed, walked out the room and closed the door behind her. Kyle reached out instinctively and flipped the bolt in place. He didn’t want to risk her giving into her curiosity and coming back to check on him. He had no idea what might happen once he returned to the world of flames.
He turned the knob making sure the door wouldn’t open, then rushed to the bed, carefully holding the knife by the satin sheath as he kicked off his shoes and climbed in. Resting his head on the pillow, he closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and braced himself.
He removed the satin cloth and wrapped his hands around the hilt.
***
The fire lapped at him almost as soon as he opened his eyes.
Surrounded by the flames, Kyle quickly took in the fiery world around him and tried to get his bearings. He wasn’t in the familiar street he had expected to open his eyes to; graciously spared of the consistent image of burning crucifixes and screaming bodies.
Instead, he was on his knees in what looked like a narrow alley, flanked by towering walls that emitted a suffocating amount of heat. It was almost as if he had woken up in a furnace, and almost immediately, the hairs on his arms began to curl and his skin began to redden.
He pushed to his feet, quickly rushing towards the mouth of the alley, brandishing the knife ahead of him as the heat made his eyes water and the smoke began to gather around his feet. As soon as he was out of the alley, a window to his right erupted, and he instinctively fell to one knee, covering is face with his arm. He could feel shards cut at his skin, and the gentle sting of small open wounds.
He stood up slowly, looking all around for any signs of the demon, wondering why this time he had been brought to a different area in the burning city. Does it know I’m here?
He had to consider the possibility, especially since he had injured it the last time. If the demon had thought it was invincible in this world, their last encounter had definitely proven otherwise, and it would have taken its precautions. Which made an already unpredictable situation even worse.
“Over here!”
Kyle whirled around, raising the knife up and crouching, ready for an attack. A few buildings away, half hidden by the smoke coming from the broken windows and the flames around him, stood Jeffrey Gadge. The Sheriff was waving at him, beckoning for him to come, while constantly looking over his shoulder.
“Come on, in here!” Gadge yelled. “Before it finds us again! We need to reach higher ground!”
Kyle looked over his shoulder, desperately trying to assess the situation, hoping he wouldn’t be drawn out into the open just to be ambushed by the demon. Gadge yelled
at him to hurry, and throwing caution to the wind Kyle sprinted towards him. Fire reached for him from all around, fingers of flames desperately trying to catch on as he sped past, the smoke itself pushing against him and attempting to drive him back.
Gadge rushed into the building and Kyle followed, coughing as he cut through the smoke with the knife and desperately tried to wave back the relentless flames.
“Up!” Gadge yelled, looking over his shoulder to make sure Kyle was following him. “That damn thing hates heights!”
Kyle didn’t argue, although in the back of his mind, a tiny voice tried to reason with how ridiculous that sounded. They were in the beast’s world, after all. Why would it create an obstacle for itself? But Kyle was driven by adrenaline, and a part of him believed that Gadge probably knew more about this world than he did. After all, the Sheriff was trapped here. Why wouldn’t he have found a loophole of sorts in the fabric of this world’s reality?
Taking the stairs by two, he made sure he was only a few steps behind Gadge as they raced up one floor after the other. The Sheriff led him all the way up, kicking down a door at the top and leading them both onto the roof. Kyle slowed down to catch his breath, looking out onto the world of fire and smoke before him. From here, the city of flames seemed to reach out forever on all sides. It would take him an eternity to find the demon here.
“Took you long enough to get back here,” Gadge said, hunched over and gasping for air, his words interrupted by fits of coughing.
“Sorry,” Kyle said, breathing in deeply, the air a bit fresher at this height. “Traffic was terrible.”
Gadge chuckled. “So what’s the plan?”
“No idea,” Kyle said, his eyes darting left and right as he tried to make sense of the maze of flaming buildings around him. “This thing wouldn’t happen to have a home, would it?”
Gadge sniffed and gestured to his right, waving his hand about in small circles. “Somewhere in that direction. Always seems to be coming at me from there.”
“Any idea how to get there?” Kyle asked.
“Do I look like a friggin’ tour guide to you?” Gadge shot.
“No, I suppose not,” Kyle replied. “I was hoping this would be easier.”
“Only thing I can help with is the obstacle course I made across the roofs,” Gadge said. “We could use those to get as far as possible without having to go down there.”
Kyle looked to where Gadge was pointing. His eyes fell upon a few loose planks laid across the open space between this roof and the next. The planks were held in place by cylindrical bricks placed expertly on top of each other. Gadge had obviously had a lot of time on his hands.
Time seems all messed up on this side.
Kyle nodded and turned to Gadge. “Let’s get moving then,” he said.
Gadge sighed and stretched. “After you,” he said. “You’re the one with the knife.”
Kyle led the way across the roof, holding the knife up at waist level as he eyed the makeshift bridge Gadge had prepared. He was only a few feet away when a hard blow against the back of his head sent him sprawling to the ground.
***
Aley screeched to a halt next to Union Savings Bank, jumping out of her car in time to join the small crowd of people that were rushing towards the supermarket. The firefighters were already setting up a perimeter, yelling at each other as they scurried to get their hoses to the hydrants and control the flames that were quickly spreading to the woods and houses behind it. She gasped when someone raced past her, bumping into her and sending her toppling over her feet.
She rushed on, pushing through the crowd, trying to get past the people being pushed back and away from the flames. Her eyes scanned the faces, hoping that she would find the Sheriff somewhere in the midst of the onlookers gazing in shock at the inferno before them.
She reached the barricade and was about to jump over it when strong hands grabbed her and pushed her back.
“Where the hell do you think you’re goin’!” a firefighter screamed at her. “Behind the line! Now!”
“The Sheriff’s in there!” Aley yelled at him, unsure if he would call her on her bluff. It was the first thing that came to her mind.
“Sheriff Gadge?” the firefighter asked.
Aley nodded. “I saw his cruiser back there!”
“Lady, you’re seein’ things,” the firefighter said, forcing her further back. “The Sheriff just left. He made sure we were setting up and went to supervise the fire at the station. Now get back!”
Aley felt her heart drop down to her feet. Kyle! It’s going after Kyle!
She forced her way back through the crowd, pushing and shoving as she went, earning herself a few insults along the way. She broke into a run, jumped into her car, and wasted no time swerving it around and back the way she had come.
Kyle’s in danger! Kyle’s in danger!
The thought raced through her head, blinding her judgment as she sped down the narrow street. Without slowing down, she made a sharp left turn onto North Main Street, missing an oncoming fire engine by a hair’s breadth. She fought to control her vehicle, fixated on getting back to the inn as quickly as she could.
She didn’t see the police cruiser speed out from behind a side street to her right and slam into her car.
***
“This is all your fault!”
Kyle was barely on his hands and knees when Gadge’s foot connected with his ribs, the force so strong it knocked the wind out of him and sent him rolling. The pain shot through his body, and when the second kick came, he swore he could hear his ribs cracking with the blow.
“This thing is here because of you!” Gadge screamed from over him, grabbing Kyle by the collar and lifting him up. “I’m here because of you!”
Gadge’s fist came slamming into Kyle’s face, once, twice, three times before the Sheriff let his body fall back onto the ground.
“That’s the problem with you assholes!” Gadge yelled. “You think everyone’s expendable except for you. Look at what you’ve done to me! I’m a friggin’ meat suit, you bastard!”
Kyle rolled onto his side, coughing violently. Gadge grabbed him by the nape of his shirt and began dragging him towards the edge of the roof.
“You see, I was able to do what you couldn’t,” the Sheriff was saying. “I struck a deal. Get rid of you, and this thing leaves me alone. Leaves my town alone. Imagine that! Just one quick hurl over the edge, and this nightmare ends forever!”
“It’s playing you,” Kyle coughed, his voice hoarse from the pain.
Gadge punched him, kicked him a couple of times, then punched him again. “Shut up!”
Kyle felt the world around him spin out of control. His eyes grew heavy, and his body felt like a sack of stones. He couldn’t move, the beating he was taking quickly depriving him of whatever energy he had. Gadge grabbed him again and lifted him up, edging them both closer to the edge of the roof.
“This is it for you,” Gadge said. “A drop like this, I’d be surprised if you survived it. And even if you did, I’ll just leave you lying there for the flames to eat you up.”
Gadge looked over the edge, adjusting Kyle’s limp body for the final hurl. “Tell you what? You say hello to your wife and kid for me, okay? Tell them that this is justice for the fact that you were a friggin’ coward who couldn’t end his own life and save us a load of misery.”
Gadge pushed, and Kyle felt his body lurch. He grabbed onto the Sheriff for dear life, pulling him with him as he felt himself beginning to roll over the edge of the roof. Gadge punched at him, fighting to break free of Kyle’s hold, but Kyle wouldn’t let go. Losing his balance, Gadge screamed in fury as Kyle pulled him over the edge of the roof and sent them both falling to their deaths.
***
Aley opened her eyes slowly. The world around her was a blur, and her ears were ringing so loud she felt like her head would burst from the sound of it. She tried to move pain immediately shooting up and down her neck and back, forcing
her to sit completely still. She waited for her vision to clear, her mind desperately trying to make sense of what just happened.
Someone hit me. Am I dying?
She felt with her hands along her seatbelt and clicked the buckle, freeing herself of the suffocating pressure against her chest. She blinked as something dripped into her eyes, burning them, the faint smell of iron letting her know that she was, in fact, bleeding. She lifted her hand to her face, her movements slow, and wiped the blood from her forehead. She brushed against the open wound on her scalp and screamed in pain, her body shaking and sending further jolts of pain in every direction.
Slowly, her vision cleared, and only then could she take in the broken windshield and mangled remains of the dashboard in front of her. Blood stained the steering wheel where her head had connected, and she cursed the absence of an airbag. Concussion. At least that. No telling what else has been broken.
She tried to move again, but the pain stopped her almost immediately, and she slowly laid her head back and closed her eyes. Someone was bound to find her. Help was on its way. All she had to do was wait.
Almost as if on cue, the driver’s door was yanked open, and a hand reached out and grabbed her by the neck. The grip was strong, like a vice, fingers digging into her flesh and choking her. She was dragged out forcefully, her broken limbs screaming with the blinding pain that seared through them, forcing her to scream. She felt her legs briefly connect with the ground before her entire body was lifted up in the air, the hand around her neck holding her up like a lifeless doll.
She opened her eyes, weakly slapping at the grip that threatened to choke the life out of her, and stared into the burning red eyes of Sheriff Jeffrey Gadge. The Sheriff smiled at her, lips so wide it felt like they would reach all the way to his ears. His skin was cracked in several places, the flesh beneath glistening in the dim light of the street lamp, the putrid smell of rotten meat filling her sinuses. Gadge opened his mouth, and in the abyss there, Aley could see the bottomless pits of Hell reach out for her.