by R. J. Wolf
Richard and Castillo shared a look. “There should be one in the emergency kit,” Castillo said and headed toward the trunk. He rummaged in the back for a second then tossed a silver torch to Eric. “Feel safe now?”
Eric ignored him and clicked the button on the flashlight. The beam illuminated a short distance ahead and he quieted the voice in his ear that told him to stay with the car.
“Now, you can follow me,” Castillo directed.
They made their way into desert across a patchwork of sand and spiny vegetation. Eric kept his light trained on Castillo’s back, afraid he’d get lost in the darkness. He still wasn’t convinced that he was among friends but now he was more afraid of being left in the desert.
The landscape was speckled with strange trees. They had long dense trunks and branches that reached to the sky like arms, ending in fists of thin, needle-like leaves. Eric had never seen anything like them before. From the corner of his eyes the trees looked like giants, stalking him from the shadows. Just another mysterious oddity coughed up by the desert.
They walked for half an hour through mostly flat terrain until they came to series of shelf-like rocks that rose into the night sky. Castillo leapt onto the platform like a cat and Richard followed, leaving Eric to scamper up the rigged pile like a drunken goat.
Once he reached the top, Castillo smiled and offered him a hand. “Vampirism has it’s upside.”
Eric grinned then brushed off his jeans and stretched his back. “Guys, how much longer?” he groaned.
Castillo didn’t reply but looked to Richard. He was standing ten feet away at the mouth of a small cave. Eric reluctantly took a few steps closer and flashed his light toward the opening.
“Turn that off,” Richard snapped. “She’s in there.”
Eric quickly shut off the flashlight and tucked it into his jeans. By the faint moonlight, he could see Richard’s legs trembling and the trepidation in his face. That fear was contagious and Eric tried to swallow down the icy chill that had taken residence in the back of his throat.
“You have to go inside,” Richard whispered.
Eric wasn’t sure who Richard was talking to. He hoped he was talking to himself because he’d already decided there was no way he was going into the cave alone.
“Move your feet,” Richard mumbled again.
“Richard,” Castillo called out. “The hard part was coming here. Let’s get this over with.”
Richard look back at him and nodded. He took a deep breath and found his resolve. “Castillo, if you hear anything, you know what to do. You’re with me, Eric.”
“If he hears anything, what the hell does that mean?” Eric barked.
“Nothing.”
Eric shuffled backward. “It’s not nothing. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
Richard grabbed his arm to steady him. “The cave is a portal, Eric. The oracle doesn’t live on this plane. If something went wrong, Castillo would have to pull us back. That’s all. Now do you want answers or not?”
Eric leaned his head back and looked up at the sliver of a moon. He’d been lost for so long, reaching around in the dark, trying to put together pieces of a broken puzzle. He wasn’t sure if he wanted the answers but he needed them. He needed Anna back, and for that, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.
He closed his eyes and breathed in a lungful of the crisp desert air. Nodding, he turned to Richard and smiled. “Let’s go.”
Richard looked back at him with a stoic face then started toward the cave. Just before he stepped inside, he glanced over his shoulder. “Stay close,” he said firmly. “Things scarier than me dwell in the expanse between worlds.”
“What?”
Without another word, Richard walked into the darkness. Eric quickly followed behind him and as soon as he crossed the threshold the platform behind him vanished and he was cast into a nebulous void.
“Where are we?” he asked, his voice echoing.
“Shh. Best we keep silent. We don’t attention from anything in here.”
Eric didn’t say another word. He kept close to Richard, bumping into him every time they stopped. The further they walked the more his eyes adjusted and he could slowly start to make out shapes and figures moving in the shadows.
“Someone is out there,” he whispered into Richard’s ear.
“Hopefully that is where they will stay. It’s not much further ahead.”
Eric watched the oddly shaped figures as they moved past them. Their movements were odd, inhuman in their cadence as they slowed and sped up. They seemed to be moving closer and closer, whipping twisted limbs back and forth in erratic spasms.
Eric wanted to scream, to run but didn’t know where he could go. Panic was taking control and all he knew is he needed to get out of there.
The dark figures were closing in. He could hear them now, their breath rustling against his ears as they whispered in demented tones. The shadows were surrounding him, swarming from every direction, reaching out to drag him away for eternity.
Suddenly, an icy hand gripped his arm and Eric let out a feeble scream. A blinding, white light washed over him and he found himself standing on a ledge with the sun burning brightly overhead.
“We’re here,” Richard said and released him.
“Back there…something almost—”
“They could sense you. You’re not like most underworlders”
“How can you be out here?” Eric asked and looked up to the sun.
“It’s not real. It’s her.”
The sun started to dim then it cracked in half and a white luminous gown spilled out and floated to the ground. As it fell, Eric could make out the figure of a woman. She was beautiful, her golden hair moved like waves in the ocean. Her blue hued skin radiated with an incandescent light that was almost blinding. She silently landed on the plateau and smiled as her eyes rested on Richard.
“Oracle,” Richard said in a meek tone.
“Oh, Richard,” the oracle replied, her voice emanating from all around. “Haven’t we moved beyond that.”
Richard glanced at Eric and frowned then turned back to the oracle. “Mother,” he said through clenched teeth.
The oracle smiled then turned her attention to Eric. “It’s been many years since I’ve laid eyes on you, Bastille.”
Eric scrunched his face in confusion. “That’s not my name. My name is Eric, Eric Strange.”
“Then perhaps I am wrong.”
“You’re never wrong,” Richard added.
The oracle smiled. “Why have you come to see me, Eric Strange?”
“I want to know the truth.”
“There are many truths. What truth is it that you seek?”
“The truth about my past. The truth about Rabelial.”
The oracle grinned then started to pace. Her gown sailed behind her like it had a mind of its own. It was hypnotizing, she was hypnotizing and the longer Eric watched her the more his fear and apprehension faded away.
“What does he know, son?” the oracle asked after a long silence.
“I’m not your…” Richard stopped himself. “Why can’t you find someone else? She deserves peace.”
“And you think I don’t offer that?”
“No, no I don’t. She’s just a shell for you. My mother is dead.”
The oracle chuckled. “There was a time when that was true. A time when Miranda and I only shared a common façade. But ever since you first came to see me, something was awakened. And slowly she’s been coming back. Memories have come back. I remember, I remember holding you after you broke your arm. Oh, how you cried. I pressed your little face into my shoulder…do you remember?”
Richard looked down at his left arm as a mild pain throbbed. He blinked away tears then shook his head. “No…no, she’s gone. I didn’t come here for your games.”
“No games. You are mine, flesh of my flesh. My heart that will beat long after I leave this body and find another. Yes, Richard, I am the oracle but I’m als
o your mother. She lives within me.”
Richard wanted to believe her but all he could remember were the many times he’d come to see her throughout the centuries. He’d hoped to find some remnant of his mother but all he found was the oracle’s cold resolve. No matter how much he wished it were true, he knew nothing had changed. “Can you help him, or not?”
“Of course, I can. But he didn’t come for the truth and he will not accept it. Neither will you.”
“I will,” Eric replied. “Please, please tell me the truth.”
“The truth,” the oracle repeated. “The truth is never as we’d like it to be.”
“I’d like to hear it all the same.”
“The truth is that the inferni needs you. You are his only way back to the physical world. He will stop at nothing to this end.”
“He’s in my head. He speaks to me, fills me with dark magic that I can’t control. Urges me to do terrible things,” Eric said, his voice breaking as he spoke.
“You poor, poor child. That darkness that you feel is your own. Rabelial can give you no more power than you already have. He could control you no more than I could. But you will always be able to hear him and he will always hear you.”
“Why?”
“Because you are bound.”
“Bound, because of where I was born?”
“Yes, you could say that.”
“What else could you say?”
“I could say that you are known to each other. That the connection you share is much more than your place of birth.”
“Because I’m an elder?”
The oracle chuckled. “Where did you get that idea?”
“Anna, Anna thought I was an elder.”
“Anna was wrong.”
“Are you sure?” Eric asked.
“You asked for the truth. What you do with it is your decision.”
“Then what am I?”
The oracle didn’t reply. She stared at Eric with a blank face which only made him angrier.
“What am I?” he screamed again. “Tell me! Tell me!”
“Good luck, Eric Strange. I pray you find all that you need.” The oracle raised her hand and blew across her palm, sending a shower of powdery crystals into Eric’s face. There was a sudden flash and the platform they were standing on shook. A boom rumbled through the air and the oracle vanished in a cloud of smoke.
“Where did she go?” Eric screamed as he stumbled across the plateau.
“We need to go,” Richard replied and reached for Eric’s arm as he slid toward the edge. “Come on.”
Eric lunged forward but his foot slipped and he grasped a handful air. He let out a scream that was swallowed by the abyss below. His stomach jumped into his throat and he felt weightless as he tumbled into nothing.
Richard and the narrow ledge above him faded. Eric kicked and flailed wildly but in seconds he was consumed in blackness. He let out one last call for help then there was nothing.
CHAPTER 19
THE DAY THAT NEVER WAS
Eric awoke to the sun pouring into his room like spilt milk. Groaning, he covered his eyes and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head. He almost fell asleep again then jumped up and stared around the room in confusion. “What the hell?” he mumbled.
The last thing he could remember was the oracle, the oracle and falling into darkness. A cold chill rushed over him and he grabbed his phone from the nightstand. The time read 4:30pm. Eric gasped then jabbed the digits for Castillo’s phone number but before it could ring, there was series of knocks at his door.
“Richard,” he mumbled and rushed across the room. Grabbing the handle, he yanked the door open and gasped. “Gary!”
Gary was standing in the hall with a flask in one hand and a glass of beer in the other. He looked Eric up and down then smiled. “Sleeping in today huh?”
“Where the hell have you been?” Eric snapped.
“What?” Gary asked with a confused look on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Gary, you’ve been gone for two days!”
“Two days? What are you talking about? I just saw you last night.”
“That was two nights ago, Gary. You went to see Cortez, remember?”
Gary twisted his face then took a long look at the beer in his hand. “Here, you take this. I’ve obviously had enough.” Gary handed Eric the glass and tucked his flask into his jacket pocket.
“This is serious, Gary.”
“I am serious, Eric. Have I really been gone that long?”
“Yes, you went to meet Cortez and I haven’t seen you since. Where have you been?”
Gary stumbled into the room and fell into a chair. He leaned forward with a wrinkled face and slicked his hair back across his head. “I…I don’t remember,” he mumbled. “I met Cortez, but I don’t remember anything else.”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know. He…he didn’t show up,” Gary said, slurring his words.
“Are you okay?”
“What?” Gary replied then fell over.
He landed face first on the ground and passed out. Eric rolled him over onto his back and shook him. “Wake up, Gary. Wake up now!”
Gary didn’t respond. His eyes were closed and aside from the lump that was starting to swell on his forehead, he looked peaceful. He smelled like the bottom of a barrel of bourbon but he was breathing just fine.
“Jesus, you drunk bastard. The fate of the world at your feet and all you can do is drink,” Eric growled then shook Gary again. When he didn’t respond, Eric sighed and stared out of the window. Through the slits in the blinds he could see miles and miles of empty desert and his mind ran straight to the oracle.
“How the hell did I get home?” he mumbled to himself. Wincing, he shut the blinds then turned his attention back to Gary. With a grunt, he dragged Gary onto the bed and covered him with a blanket. “Sleep it off, old man. I gotta find out what’s going on.”
Eric quickly got dressed then grabbed his cell phone and called Castillo. The phone rung a few times and he was about to end the call when someone picked up.
“Eric?” Castillo answered.
“Good to hear your voice,” Eric replied. “Where’s Richard? I need to talk to him about Gary.”
“He’s not with you?”
“Who, Gary? Yeah, he’s right here, sleeping off whatever he’s gotten himself into.”
“No, not Gary. Isn’t Richard with you?”
“With me? Why would he be with me?”
There was a long pause and Eric could hear Castillo’s anxiety. It was like he’d sent it through the phone and it’d now taken hold of Eric and pulled him into a sea of uncertainty.
“Castillo, what’s going on?” Eric asked with a tremble in his voice.
“What do you remember about last night?”
Eric scratched his head and took a deep breath. “We went to see the oracle. Um, you stayed outside, we met her, she told me about Rabelial. Then, then something happened. She vanished and I fell and I woke up here.”
“Shit!” Castillo snapped.
“What’s wrong?”
“I waited outside of that cave until daybreak. I barely made it back to the car without getting burned to ashes. I haven’t seen Richard since he went into that cave with you.”
Eric swallowed and tried to think if he’d missed anything, but there was nothing. The time between when he fell off the ledge and when he woke up on in his room was blank. He had no idea where Richard was and no idea what happened to either of them. “Castillo…I, I don’t know.”
“I need to find him,” Castillo said in a grim voice. “We can’t leave him alone with her.”
“It’ll be sundown in a few hours. Let’s meet at the diner. We’ll figure it out, I promise.”
“Eric, I can’t wait that long. I need to find him now.”
“There’s nothing you can do right now, Castillo. Getting yourself burned to ashes definitely won’t help find Richard. It won’t
be that much longer until sundown.”
Castillo let out an annoyed sigh. “I guess you’re right. But as soon as the sun goes down, Eric.”
“Absolutely. One other thing, bring everybody.”
“Everyone? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know yet. But…but I have a feeling we’re gonna need backup.”
“Ok. What about Shanna?”
“Her too. I need to make things right.”
CHAPTER 20
I BRING DEATH
Noll jolted as ice water peppered his face. Gagging, he awoke to dim light and the smell of stagnant water. He was tied to a metal chair with his arms behind his back and his feet bound to the legs of the chair. Drainage pitter-pattered against the concrete floor, echoing behind him like a timer. He was underground and that at least brought him a sliver of comfort but in his mind, he was dead already.
The air was cool and moist and the floor was covered in stains that he couldn’t make out. Faded brick lined the walls and in the far corner there was a rickety stairwell that disappeared to the level up above.
“Who’s there?” Noll asked. Someone stepped around him and dropped an empty bucket to the floor. Noll blinked and tried to make out the figure as his body trembled with fear. “H…hello? I didn’t talk, I never talked. You can, you can trust me.”
“Silence,” a raspy voice replied.
Noll bit his tongue as the massive figure in front of him came into view. It was a tall man, lean and agile with golden hair and weathered hands that looked immensely powerful. His green eyes were deep and mysterious and as he rubbed his graying beard, Noll squirmed and tried to loosen his restraints.
“You’re…you’re Langston. You’re on the council,” Noll stammered.
Langston laughed. “I am the council. And you are Noll, the slimy little dwarf, king of the river, purveyor of things that shouldn’t be. However, Pongo tells me you did well.”
Noll paused. He knew Langston by reputation only but that was enough to scare the hell out of him. One wrong word, one wrong look and he was dead. “Yes. I, I did just like he told me to,” Noll said in a low voice.
Langston stepped around the chair and Noll jumped. Langston grabbed his wrists and untied the ropes. “No need for such bindings,” Langston said as he let the braided rope fall to the floor. He smiled then walked back around the chair and paced the room. “Delivery of diamonds, Noll. I wonder if you know what they were for?”