Run the Day

by Davis, Matthew C.

  I could just make out, underneath the chaos, the still shapes of the sacrifices, and Sarah in the middle of it. All of them were still, the lights of their souls snuffed out and gone. I turned to Hack and stared at him dumbly.

  "We're all going to die."

  "Shut your damn fool mouth with that talk," Hack growled. "I taught you better than that. It ain't over yet."

  Hack turned to look at the fight, and I noticed how crooked he was. He had stood strong and straight before, bright with more than just the light that filled his eyes. Now that crackling, thriving energy was gone and he was just an old, old man, like when I'd found him bleeding in the Bastille. How?

  No time.

  He was right, of course he was right. What was I supposed to do? I was tapped out, there was nothing left in the tank and I didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against Henry. I scratched at the cover of the Libro Nihil anxiously and for the briefest of moments considered bolting, running, putting as much distance between me and the whole terrible situation as I could. My body even started reacting to the thought, but some small part of me unfortunately decided to speak up and remind me that was the worst possible thing to do.

  It would just delay the inevitable demise. Better to face it. I had stopped Henry from using the book to bring forth the Sleeper, and the end of the world with it, didn't mean I wasn't going to get myself killed anyways.

  The book?

  Damn it.

  "I am an unbelievable idiot."

  "I could've told you that," Hack said.

  I glared at him, then despite my body's every warning against it began edging slowly towards where Henry and Swift battled. The Libro Nihil was the key, it always had been. It was the key to everything, and I felt like a complete ass for not having realized it sooner. The true secret of the book, what made it an awesome relic of the supernatural, wasn't just its power to punch holes through reality and conjure forth alien beings. It could compel those beings, too. I let the flickering, barely there remnants of the energy inside me reach out to the book, and I could feel it. The roiling magic inside it. It felt alive, a well of power that wanted to be used, that just needed someone to take the leash off and let it work. There was so much of it, an unbelievable amount. The things I could do with this book...

  Maybe later.

  If there was a later.

  I flipped the book open, revealing its worn, yellowed pages covered in a scrawling script, filled with designs and formulas that made the eyes twitch if you looked at them too long. I laid a hand on those pages and brought my mind and every little ounce of power I had left inside me to focus on the alien magic that throbbed within the pages of the Libro Nihil. Oh yeah, it was so very much more than just a book. It reached out to me, latched onto me down to the last molecule and infused me with its ridiculous power. My pain and worry and fear became very small, very far away, and I knew exactly what to do with complete certainty.

  The darkness that was my great-grandfather was slowly but surely surrounding Swift, enveloping the brightness of his form and attempting to smother it. No time to waste.

  "Hey, Henry!" I raised my voice above the din.

  Henry's face swung around to look at me, still clutching Swift within smothering darkness. Inky, shadowy tentacles stretched forth and raced at me, intent on my destruction. I'd been waiting for that. I raised the Libro Nihil and let loose the power inside it, the power to compel and control beings from the Other Side. Like the Sleeper, the well that Henry's power drew from. The book leapt from my hands and spread itself open mid-air, pages flipping and blurring, and still Henry's darkness came forward. I prepared to fall back on my original plan of running like hell, until a tremendous cry rose up from the black cloud.

  The book began drawing the darkness into its pages, sucking it up like a vacuum. Henry's face was tortured, screaming, howling and gnashing his teeth as the black cloud was ripped away. I saw the bright spot that was Swift hit the ground.

  "This is not the end!" Henry howled.

  "Yes, yes it is," I said finally, reaching up to take the book in my hands and feel the power of it. It was amazing. It devoured the dark, entropic power of the Sleeper into itself. Somewhere I could feel something happening, somewhere in a place that was no place, far away yet uncomfortably close. Something was stirring, shifting, moaning in a fitful sleep.

  As fast as it began, the darkness was gone and the book slammed itself shut.

  The whole thing left me shaking, still holding the Libro Nihil up over my head. It was warm, and when I looked up I could see steam actually coming off its surface. I lowered it, staring at it, noticing not for the first time how peculiarly small it was. I must have zoned out on it; I jumped when Hack came up and put his hand on my shoulder.

  "Well, I'll be damned boy," Hack said with something resembling pride in his voice, "you did it."

  For a second I just stared at him, and then I did something I hadn't done in a while.

  I smiled, honestly smiled.

  "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

  Chapter Nineteen

  It took me a while just to realize it was all over.

  I stood there in the middle of the clearing with Hack, still shaking, more from an absurd amount of adrenaline than the cold when all the magic dispersed. Now that all the magic and insanity was over with, it was almost oppressively dark there underneath the trees. The buzzing behind my eyes reminded me I was still looking between spectrums, and when I shifted back it was like being able to breathe again. Everything was all so...

  Normal.

  "Little help here?" a voice called from nearby.

  I turned to look in the direction of the voice, and saw Swift lying amidst the bodies of the sacrifices. In all the madness I'd forgotten about that tawdry bit of business. I made my way over, my smile shattered to a fleeting memory when I got close enough to make out the faces of the women who were all so very still. Hack hobbled up behind me, spitting out a curse under his breath. Despite the horrors he had just gone through, Swift was remarkably intact. Not fair, not even a little bit. I extended a hand to him, and helped haul him off the ground.

  "This is a god damn catastrophe," I said.

  Swift nodded; somehow the bastard had even managed to keep his sunglasses on. Just added to his air of weirdness, what with it being night time and all. Hack was over by where Sarah lay, kneeling beside her and muttering something.

  "What happened to Hack?" Swift leaned in and asked quietly.

  I just shrugged, I wish I knew. It was like all of his power, his magic, was gone. What with the world no longer in imminent peril, there'd be plenty of time for questions and sorting things out later. For now, there was the aftermath and clean-up, particularly the bodies of seven women who no doubt had already been reported missing. I tucked the still warm Libro Nihil into my hoodie, and picked my way carefully over to Hack.

  "There's always collateral, isn't there?" Hack said.

  I wasn't sure if he was speaking to me or asking the empty air.

  "Price of doing business, old man. You know that."

  "Doesn't make it any less a tragedy." Hack stood, wringing his hands like he was trying to rub something off them

  .

  He was absolutely right. Each one of these women, not just Sarah, had a name. Probably families. Each one of them would be missed by someone.

  "You two step back; I can take care of this," Swift said, coming forward.

  Hack gave him a wary look but complied, and we moved away from the circle of bodies. Swift removed his sunglasses, and his eyes flashed white. A power rose in the air, something wholly different from the sticking, festering evil that had so recently filled the clearing. It was cool and brought with it a smell I could only describe as clean. Swift spread his arms out wide, and when he spoke his voice was a clarion bell that rang through the whole clearing.

  "Return, Children of Dust. Return from whence you came, be at peace and know rest, so that you might return again someday."

&n
bsp; As he spoke, the bodies began to fade, no flash, no amazing bursts of power or special effects. They just simply faded away, leaving behind no sign they'd been there at all.

  "Malakhim," Hack said under his breath.

  The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end, and I'd been holding my breath. I let it out in a gasp when Swift's work was done and looked at him as he slid his glasses back over his eyes, a peaceful look on his face. He turned to face me, and a small smile pulled up one corner of his mouth.

  "That was, definitely, something else," I said.

  Hack just shook his head and hugged himself, rubbing his arms at the cold. It was getting damn cold, and damn late, and we were officially standing around in an empty clearing in the middle of nowhere. It was most definitely time to go.

  "Let's get the hell out of here."

  We made our way back to where Swift had left his car. He cranked the heater up and it was marvelous. It'd been a strange, horrible, painful day and it was some kind of amazing how nice a little thing like being comfortably warm was. Hack and Swift were talking about something, but I was too busy admiring how soft the seats were...

  "Thomas, wake up. You got to see this," Swift's voice came to me out of the darkness.

  Apparently, I'd gone and fallen asleep. I raised my head, rubbed at my eyes and peered out the window. We were at my house. The little glowing clock on the dashboard said it was almost midnight.

  There was a small gathering of cars parked out front, low-riders and rice rockets. Someone had gone and taken all the boards off the windows, and there was a soft, inviting orange light coming through some of them, smoke was billowing out of the chimney. Someone had gone and cleaned up all the blackened char from Henry and Hack's scuffle, and even raked up all the leaves and sticks that'd fallen out of the ash tree. For the first time in recent memory, the place looked decent.

  Livable.

  "This does not bode well," I said as I dragged myself out of the warm comfort of the car.

  Hack and Swift followed behind me. The door was unlocked when I went to open it, and when I stepped inside I was greeted by the soft light of candles that had been placed on the various bookshelves and cabinets. All the white cloths were gone, and apparently every speck of dust or sign of the earlier battle. My battered, muddy shoes squeaked on the hardwood floor that had been freshly mopped and cleaned. I could hear voices and laughter coming from what sounded like the kitchen. I cast Hack and Swift a curious look, got a pair of shrugs, and made my way warily down the hall.

  Rosa, Jesus, and some of his little gangster friends from the Gardens were there, sitting around the table and eating what appeared to be a freshly cooked meal of some kind. It smelled amazing. Jesus shot me a ridiculous grin, while Rosa sat quietly at the head of the table. The kitchen, like the rest of the house, had been cleaned and candles were lit and strewn about everywhere. My stomach made a noise like a rabid badger at the smell of the food.

  "Hola brujo," Rosa said, not looking at me as she spoke, busily loading up a plate with beans and meat and rice, "you got no power."

  One of Jesus's friends got up and took his plate to the sink, so I dropped myself into the vacated chair. I drummed my fingers on the tabletop and looked around, taking it all in, letting my mind whirl. I grabbed a plate from the little stack on the table and began spooning large portions onto it. Hack and Swift hung back, waiting. I took a bite of the food, and another, and another. For a time, my entire world revolved around that plate of food. No one spoke. Everyone waited.

  When I had inhaled the last morsel of food off my plate, I sat back and let out a little sigh, folding my hands across my stomach and looked across the table at Rosa, where she met my stare evenly.

  "So, what the hell is this?"

  "We couldn't stay at my sister's place, so I figured since you went and got my house wrecked me and my boy could stay here," Rosa said matter-of-factly, "it was disgusting though, so I cleaned it."

  "Right. And I have no power?"

  "When we got back, a city man came and shut it off. Said you ain't paid the bill in months," Jesus added helpfully.

  Bastards.

  And with Devlin dead and gone I wasn't getting paid.

  Hack settled himself into a chair when Jesus got up, and Swift had wandered away to another part of the house again. The rest of the gangsters followed, and as Jesus passed by he gave me a thumbs up and an odd wink. Weird kid. Get my ass handed to me six ways to Sunday, save the world from an evil abstract cosmic entity and my great-grandfather, lose my cash-cow, and what do I get for it? My home invaded.

  I rose from the table and shuffled my way out of the kitchen.

  "So, we can stay?" Rosa called out after me.

  "Whatever."

  I made my way to the stairs, and to my room. Apparently it was the only place in the house that Rosa hadn't gone through. I entertained the thought of taking a shower and washing away the day's trials but decided it could wait till morning. Or next week. Whenever I woke up. I felt like I could drop into a coma. The Libro Nihil was still a comforting weight inside my sweater, and as I took it out and laid it on the nightstand beside my bed a sudden breeze went through the room.

  "You're really going to keep it?" Swift said from behind me.

  I almost jumped out of my skin, my heart was thudding in my chest like it was about to burst out of my ribs. I spun to face him.

  "What the fuck is a matter with you?"

  He gave me his weird little smile, and I saw that his glasses were off, white eyes strangely luminous in the dark room.

  "Sorry. I was just coming to say good-bye," Swift said, filling up the doorway. "It was a hell of a day. Definitely interesting. You did good."

  I frowned, dropping myself down onto the edge of my bed. I glanced at the Libro then back to Swift; he just stood there watching me with his hands in his pockets.

  "Thanks? I didn't die, but I guess that's the most I could really hope for. And yeah, you're damn right I'm keeping the book. Better me than some Other."

  "Be careful. So, do you want to know the truth now?" Swift asked, it sounded like a dangerously loaded question.

  The truth.

  It was a scary thing, and sometimes a person was much better off without the burden of it. The truth about Swift? The scholar in me, the rabid information junkie, was itching to know what his deal was. But that little voice in me that kept popping up at the oddest times all day, told me it might not be the best idea. It could open up a whole new can of worms, and as of that moment, I just couldn't deal with anything else. I craved sleep, rest, silence.

  "No offense, but I've decided I just don't give a damn," I said and laid back on my bed, it felt amazing.

  "Smart man. Take care of yourself, Thomas. Don't do anything stupid," Swift's voice was quiet, like he was far away. "It's hard enough being your guardian angel."

  I blinked and sat up, but I was by myself. Swift was gone.

  I buried myself underneath a pile of blankets and pillows, trying to barricade myself away from the rest of the world. As much as I wanted to, sleep wouldn't come. My head was too full of everything that'd happened, too full of more questions. What'd happened to Hack? Where had his power gone? What was I going to do about Rosa, and her son, and the small army of gangsters that followed them? How the hell was I going to get the electricity back on? Never mind the rest of my bills. For a time my brain swirled and rattled, beating itself up with worries. I don't know what time it was when things began to finally fade, when sleep finally came to take me away. I just remember one last thought, before I fell into the blissfully dreamless sleep of the truly exhausted.

  What a fucking day.

  Acknowledgements

  First and foremost I'd like to thank my wife, Serena, for putting up with me while writing this and supporting me the whole way through. She's a hell of a woman.

  To my Uncle Greg, who shoved me headlong into taking writing seriously by gifting me with the webpage that would become the stor
ehouse for my collection of random writings, that would eventually turn into the very book you just read.

  To Walter Shuler, for being a stand-up guy, for being far more helpful and patient than ever was necessary. He's a hell of a writer, too, and you should all do yourselves a favor and go look up his books. Now. Go. Do it.

  To Bradford Joyce, the cool guy who designed and created the amazing cover that graces the book itself.

  To all my friends and family, most especially my amazing parents, and everyone else who had absolutely anything to do with the whole thing, a massive thanks to each of you.

  And finally, to you. Yeah, you. Thank you for taking a chance on a strange little book, and making it to the end. I hope you come back for the next one, and the one after that, and...you get it.

  Thank you.

  About The Author

  Do you care?

  Really? You do?

  Matt's a peculiar guy who works too much, doesn't sleep enough, and spends most his time between those with his family and writing. The real reason he wrote this book was to let off some of the pressure in his brain from being (mostly) functionally delusional, while he wanders through life in a fantasy land in his mind.

  He also has a webpage at www.thegreyspace.com where you can find an odd assortment of short stories and ramblings, check it out if you're into that kind of thing. He also spends an entirely inordinate amount of time in the Twitterverse (@greydevil13), and greatly enjoys chatting and talking nonsense with folks there.

  Okay, that's all. I'm done. Promise. Really got to stop referring to myself in the third person, it's unhealthy.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Intro

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six