Dark Genesis (Shadow and Shine Book 1)

by Danial Hooper

  “What’s happening out there?” Lynn asked Jenna.

  “Dad, go back to the room. Please.”

  Lynn moved away as she reached for him, “Hold on now, you’re in here yelling about calling Greg and Asher, I want to know what’s going on.”

  Shelly looked at Edie, “Can you please call Asher? He needs to know.”

  “Know what?” Lynn asked.

  “Dad!”

  “Ben dragged Harry out into the streets as bait and broke his leg. Ben killed a bunch of the wolves, but now Harry is down there, probably dying, while Ben is now, and I am totally serious, kissing one of the black-eyed freaks. Your daughter is yelling at me because she wants me to use a radio that doesn’t work to call someone who will probably be just as weak to this crazy woman. And now I think it is time she leaves.” Edie said. She walked over to the connecting door and opened it. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

  Shelly grabbed her dad’s hand and followed Edie’s order, “Just try. Greg needs to know what’s happening. Maybe Asher was planning to do the same thing to him or Mickey. Or maybe Asher could do fight back against that woman.” The desperation in her voice was matched by her face. She was pretty, but so run down.

  Edie put her hands up in the air. She didn’t agree, clearly, but she also didn’t want to argue with Shelly anymore. Edie handed her the walkie talkie and said, “You go ahead and call them from your room. Our battery has another few hours of life, but theirs is turned off. Good luck.”

  Jenna looked back outside, but Ben and the woman disappeared into the fog. Harry laid still holding onto his broken leg, trembling with pain. As the fog rolled over the ground, the wolves could be seen from above as they waited from someone to come to save Harry.

  -

  The feeling in Harry’s leg came back and took over as the only of his five senses that worked. The muck of his leg and the raw pulsing wound blinded him like the light had done just moments before. Harry could not see, but his eyes were stinging wildly as his body convulsed on the ground. As he wiped his eyes, his right thumb rubbed against his nose, causing another distinct, awful pain. The only noise he could hear was the whistling ring in his ears. His eardrums felt as if they could be ruptured, even though Harry could not remember any loud noises. He tasted blood in his mouth, from what? Had he bitten down onto his tongue when Ben crippled him? Was the damage so great that it caused internal bleeding? As for Harry’s ability to smell, he was so lost in the waves of pain and blood loss that the nerves in his nose even felt tingly. The only smell in the air was the burnt oil-blood of dead freaks.

  Wind blew against Harry’s face as Asher sprinted to him. He was fast, like his brother. Harry resisted the urge to be hateful towards Asher, but couldn’t help but wonder if he had come to finish his brother’s work. “You…” Harry bit down on his lip and shifted himself away from the pain. Pieces of the dust stuck in his open wound and felt like tiny snowflakes, there was a mixture of needing to hate Asher and hoping the voice in the light was real. It was too good to be true, especially since the pain came back.

  However, as he tried to think through the pain and focus on life, Harry had to make a decision.

  Asher said, “Oh, my. Harry, I’m so sorry. Oh, man, your leg. We’ve got to get you help. How did this happen? Why are you out here? Where is Ben?”

  A freak came through the fog after Asher. It moved so fast, but Asher was so much faster. More came all at once. Asher was a blur shooting left and right, back and forth, blood spewing all around from the ravaged bodies of the freaks. His spear skewered its targets while the spade loped off limbs and heads. The bodies began stacking on top of one another.

  Harry’s senses returned and his pain had subsided to less agonizing. Asher’s smooth perfection as he killed each freak was beautiful and distracting from the pain. Harry would not let the pain get the best of him. “Help me.” He said as Asher continued fighting. Even though the pain was fading, Harry felt himself fade as well. The amount of blood he lost could end up killing him.

  Asher looked back to Harry, “I’m going to get you out of here. Okay?”

  Harry nodded and smiled, He leaned himself up and began to say, “Your bro…,” until something entered into his mouth. A hand reached over his head and the fingers dragged against the top of his mouth, scratching the roof and the tip of his tongue. He tugged at the hand, but was dragged backwards. His back slid against the ground, causing a brush-burn as it dug into the ash and skidded across the concrete. Harry pulled again, but the fingers cupped under the backs of his teeth and arched his neck.

  The right corner of his mouth tore open. The hot squirt of blood flared down his chin as his body jerked from being dragged and rolled upon itself.

  Then the hand went limp. From the corner of his eye, Harry saw a freak’s body drop beside him, and its hand slopped out his mouth. He laid flat on his back, relieved to be able to breath.

  He looked upside down to see the person who saved him. It wasn’t Asher. This was someone else, a little girl with a basketball jersey and white teeth. She smiled at him, like she had known everything about him, and they were best friends.

  “Close your eyes, friend,” she said. It was just as the voice from the light has promised. A friend found him. She saved him. Harry had the redemption story. She was going to make it all better. She could even heal him. She wanted him to rest, and that was good idea. Harry needed a break. It had been a long life for this old man. She was going to save him from all of it. That light gave him what he needed. He was going to be okay.

  -

  Jenna squinted looking through the window. She wondered if she was watching another monster like the one who controlled Ben, but in that moment she realized who she was staring at. “Mona…” She said out loud.

  The girl looked just like in her dream, wearing her jersey and Capri pants. Jenna resisted the urge to run out of the hotel and see her. Only because Asher was still out there, running in circles around the wolves and displaying the kind of ability that matched his brother. Mona, however, was the one she had been waiting for and would come up to her room soon and fix this whole thing. She was safe.

  Edie noticed the Jenna’s mood change and nudged her, “She’s like that other chick, huh?”

  “No. Nothing at all like her. That’s Mona, she’s going to save us. She’s special.”

  “The little girl?”

  “Yeah, that’s her.”

  Jenna felt Edie’s eyes narrow on her, she didn’t believe her, but she wanted to. Edie rubbed her shoulder against Jenna, the embrace felt good. Edie was goofy, blunt, and sometimes totally ignorant of people’s feelings, but her friendship was valuable. Jenna appreciated the way Edie looked at her, she appreciated the way Edie saved her. Jenna was lucky to be surrounded by people who protected her. Now, Mona was down there and was going to make this all better.

  Jenna didn’t know what else to do but smile. She had watched Harry probably lose his leg, Ben run off with a crazy woman, and Asher murder half of Salt Lake City. Yet, she felt so peaceful and serene. Everything was going to be okay. Through all of the turmoil both outside and in, their room remained quiet. She and Edie shared a quiet smile. It was going to be okay.

  The sound of a small click echoed throughout the room. She looked to the door with anticipation. The electric lock on the door turned off; someone had a key.

  Who?

  The handled jiggle slightly and Jenna searched for somewhere to hide. Edie grabbed her shoulders and pushed her in between the wall and her bed. “You, down there, now” she said, pointing under the bed. Jenna shook her head wildly but Edie guided her down. “You stay under there and hang on, don’t let go. I believe in you, just shut up and be brave.” Edie walked backwards and quietly snuck behind the oversized blinds.

  The door opened and steps creaked the floorboards. The carpet scratched under the weight of the intruder. The heavy figure moved closer to the wall and Jenna could see his white shoes and navy blue pants. The soun
d of his breathing was awful. The smell was worse. The sound of licked lips carried through the room.

  Toppy.

  She looked at the blinds hoping Edie had a plan. She must have something. She wouldn’t leave Jenna out here to die, would she? Hadn’t she saved her once? What about Mona? When was she coming? Couldn’t she do something? She saw the peripheral of his face, its ridges were covered in black and grey. His eyes were pitch black. He stared ahead to the window.

  “Found you,” he coughed out his words. The thick blackness slid out of his mouth and onto the carpet. His shirt was ripped, the wounds on his neck were black, and his stomach protruded out farther than before. Toppy, somehow became more of a monster than before.

  Is he talking about Mona? Or Edie?

  Gently, Toppy raised his fingers up to tickle the place where Edie’s face would be. The blinds moved, but Edie held still.

  “Found you,” he said. Toppy pulled the blinds off the wall leaving Edie exposed standing in front of him. Licked lips. Black smile.

  She looked him in the eyes and said, “Took you long enough.” She was fearless, and then he put his giant right hand around her neck and pushed her head against the glass. The window squeaked as he dragged her upwards, nearly a foot off the ground, pinning her against the window.

  Jenna could see his hand muscles clamp around her throat. She pulled half of her body out from under the bed. She needed to save her. To help her. Something needed to happen. Someone needed to be there for Edie and it needed to be Jenna. No one else could do it.

  Where is Mona?

  Edie continued staring at Toppy, but raised her hand at Jenna, “Stop.” She struggled the word out as Toppy kept his intense focus while killing her. “You. Stop. Now…” She was talking to Jenna, but Toppy couldn’t tell. Jenna started pulled herself back under the bed, but her cast caught against one of the springs.

  Push.

  She pushed and pushed. Edie’s hands were banging against the window covering up the sound of her cast scraping against the wire.

  Finally, Jenna broke through and scooted under the bed. She was covered. The spring ripped through where the bite mark started to scab. Blood ran down Jenna’s shin. She bit her lip and fought to remain quiet.

  Edie’s lifeless body dropped to next to Jenna. Her beautiful eyes looked back, but there was nothing behind them. No more of her joy, or weirdness, or cute friendliness. Edie was dead.

  Jenna’s cry escaped her. It was low, barely a noise, but it was enough. Toppy’s feet were squared with the bed. More blackness splashed on the ground. She heard him.

  Licked lips. Black smile.

  He found you.

  -

  Tink stared at his sister in disbelief; without hesitation, she snapped a dude’s neck, and now she was talking to a man with a broken leg and scratched up face. The leg wasn’t just broken, it looked like it was ran over by a car, twice. The man was bawling and thanking Mona. The little girl who committed murder was this man’s hero. She ran directly to him through the fog, fearless and focused, while Tink barely kept up. He was grown man, she was a kid, but his little sister was moving fast. Now, she was holding on to the man and trying to calm him down.

  “Shhh….” She said. “I’m here now, you’re going to make it.”

  The dust surrounded them with blood splattered everywhere; yet Mona was giving this old crying stranger undivided attention. Tink heard fighting surround him. There was someone out there, a fight going on, he heard the too familiar sound of bodies thumping into the ground, dead. A flashback of his time working for Grady. Whatever was out there was close. These people would want revenge on Mona for breaking their friend’s neck. He needed to get his sister to safety. Tink looked down at the man she killed, his eyes were black and hideous. It looked like motor oil was leaking out of his face. What did Mona do to this dude?

  He said to her, “Ay, it’s time to go. We need to go.”

  Blood leaked out of the man’s leg. “He’s gonna die if we don’t get him to a hospital.” He said, watching dark figures fight in the mist. “Mona Leigh, listen to me! We need to go! Someone is out there. And they’re coming. This man is going to die unless we go now. Move.”

  “Shhh…” Mona replied. “We’re safe.”

  The fog separated as a man covered in black paint and blood walked towards them. He was tall, not very thick, built like a basketball player. In his hands were a long stick with a pointy end and a head of a shovel. The man approached slowly. It was like he didn’t realize how insane he looked.

  Tink stood between this man and Mona. He had no weapon, but a white boy in Salt Lake City didn’t scare Tink. He would do what it takes to protect Mona.

  “Hello, Asher,” Mona said. He stopped in his tracks, and the whites of his eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Are you ready?” she asked.

  Tink looked back to his sister, she was still holding on to the old man and combing through his hair. She didn’t give this man enough respect, anybody looking like this was dangerous. Tink stepped towards him, looking back to his eyes, and said, “One more step, that’s all you got left. After one, it gets bad.”

  Another person sprinted out of the fog to the right of the man named Asher. The eyes matched the dude Mona killed. As he jumped, his body was flat in the air, and he was headed directly to Asher.

  “Look out!” Tink shouted.

  The spear was out of Asher’s hand before Tink said “out”.

  It stabbed through black-eyed man’s throat and out the back of his head. His body slid along the dusty ground.

  “Who are you?” Asher said.

  “It’s time to go!” Tink said. It was not time to get to know one another. It was not time to have a pow-wow in the middle of the foggy streets of Salt Lake City while crazy people were out to kill you.

  Mona patted the old man’s head and stood to Tink, “Tink’s right, we have little time. Harry, you gotta listen. Can you hear me?” He nodded his head. “Okay, good. Asher and I are going into the Grand American Hotel for Shelly and Jenna. My brother is going to carry you home. Please tell him where to go, and do not argue. Will you do that for me?”

  “Whoa whoa. Excuse me? I’m not letting you go anywhere. Not with him. That’s now how this works. You ain’t going nowhere with that dude.” Tink looked back at Asher. He just didn’t look right. Something was different about him. Tink didn’t like the way Asher made him feel. He didn’t like Asher. Definitely not enough to let him alone with Mona. “You see this dude, right? I know you’re not stupid enough to go somewhere with this fool and act like it’s okay. Mona… Mona… hey… Mona Leigh Morris. What are you doing?”

  She was walking to the hotel. “Tink, we agreed you would listen. You’re not holding up your end of the deal, do you remember what I said could happen? Please don’t argue. Asher isn’t a threat. Are you, Asher?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Okay. Good,” she said. “So help Harry, and get him to safety. He has a recliner with your name on it, right Harry?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Tink was dumbfounded. There was nothing he could say as his little sister basically told him off in front of a group of strangers. If she would have tried this back in Chicago, he would have made fun of her or argued back. She never acted like this. Tink didn’t know what to say. That’s what made it feel so weird; even if Tink wanted to argue, he wouldn’t have because he believed her. None of this made sense, hadn’t for a few days now. Tink was in a whole new world.

  “So, um, Harry. How we gonna do this?” He asked staring at his leg.

  “Slow and careful, bub,” he said.

  -

  His big, fat hand reached underneath the bed and gripped into Jenna’s hair, ripping her out from under the bed and into the middle of the room. She kicked and screamed. Kicked and screamed. Her fingers could not dig into the carpet. Jenna reached for anything to hold on to, something to give her hope. The room felt bare. The tables, chairs, and bed were against the w
alls and out of her reach. Toppy was dragging her to the door.

  Then he let her go.

  He just… let her go. The release of his hand gave her the hope she was reaching for, this was her chance to survive. She needed to stay in this room until Mona came to save her. Jenna crawled back to Edie and hid behind the chair.

  Not a great place to hide.

  This was her only option. She peaked from underneath back to the door. Lynn stood in front of Toppy, blocking his exit. She should have told him to run. He cannot fight Toppy even if his eyes worked, but she couldn’t speak.

  Jenna watched as Toppy swayed back and forth, standing over a foot taller than Lynn. They stared at one another; Lynn looked directly into Toppy’s eyes. Jenna could see Toppy’s ears rise as the crevices of his lips stretched to the sides of his head. Even from behind, he was hideous.

  Lynn spoke, “Leave her alone.”

  “Mine,” Toppy replied. He swung his big right fist into Lynn’s cheek slamming him against the door. Lynn’s chin dropped to his chest. His cloudy eyes fluttered.

  Jenna knew that punch, knew that feeling.

  “Nap-slap,” Toppy said and turned turning to Jenna. Licked lips. Ugly smile. His crackled lips were black matching his lifeless eyes. “Come, come, bride.”

  “I said, leave!” Lynn shouted. As he stood, Jenna could see the side of his face was swollen. Whatever stand he could make, he would. Lynn looked down to Jenna and smiled. Jenna smiled back. The feeling sent chills over her. He was sacrificing himself for her. He was being a hero for Jenna, a real hero, and Jenna was too afraid to do anything other than watch him die.

  Toppy lunged at him with his stomach rolling in waves. Just before he plowed into Lynn, the old man jabbed something into Toppy’s neck. The momentum continued, and they both crashed into the door. Toppy stepped back and prepared for another attack. Black blood spewed from his neck. Lynn’s scalp was stuck in-between the cracks of the wood door.