Dark King of Horror

by Nicholas Duran

  Larry, without being told, unbuckled a laughter, which wasn’t a normal one though, from his mouth. It was a laughter filled with terror and spiced with sadness of not knowing what his reaction should really be.

  “You’re not real,” he spoke confidently. “None of this is real. Is that not true? It can’t be.” Despite the conviction in his mind as against what the Old One had shown him, tears still managed to suddenly stream down his cheeks, with affluence as they marched down gallantly.

  “I assure you dear friend this is very real,” the Old One’s hoarse voice ricocheted painfully as it lifted a long-nailed finger and pointed it at Larry.

  In a matter of seconds, Larry’s arm began to catch fire, and flames started swallowing up his semi-material form. A scream of agony was birthed from Larry’s bosom, just as the fire continued spreading to the rest of his body, burning, scorching, and blowing smoke into the air.

  “Make it stop please!” He sounded apologetically. Larry collapsed to the ground like a living ball of fire, sobbing and screaming. “Please! Please!”

  The Old One made a gesture as if he perceived the finest barbecue, and his body began to twitch, like when Larry had his first orgasm, while having the carnal knowledge of his mother. Remembering that it was that same pleasure he felt then that killed his mother, tears welled up in his eyes, but he quickly clear if off.

  “Didn’t a group of your species once burn people alive for purification?” The Old One laughed deliriously once again.

  Immediately the Old One made a hand movement, the fire gave up the ghost. Larry’s skin lay red, peeled, blistered, scorched, his hair gone, replaced by black patches of blisters.

  “Please just kill me….” Larry pleaded calmly as he lay on the floor crouched in a fetal position and at the same time trembling.

  With confusion written boldly on the Old One’s face, he replied innocently, “I can’t do that Larry, you’re already dead. I’m just here to make you an offer.”

  “And what could that offer be?” said Larry. As he struggle to magnetize air to breathe in, he discovered he’d found himself between the devil and the deep blue sea. “And—pardon me once again for asking, where am I?”

  “It’s quite simple. I want you to repeatedly ravage this woman, Amy, for eternity. The offer is that I heal you completely, and you become what they say in your planet, a servant for me, personally. And to answer your other question, you’re in Other. This is a dimension outside of your realm, where lost souls wander aimlessly, with no purpose. The truth of the matter Larry, neither hell nor heaven nor reincarnation or any of those absurd concepts really exist. There is only one life, and then you come here, and keep serving us. The real luck, in your case, is to never have existed. Do you accept this offer?” Its bitter voice coupled with the countenance scared life out of Larry, who was lost in the thought that took him back way time.

  ***

  “Larry, you should know we’re running late for the family’s thanksgiving!” Eve shouted while waiting outside the house for Larry who had rushed inside to pick his bible and offering.

  “Mom, I’ll be with you in a moment,” replied Larry, still from within.

  Eve had never for any reason missed the Church’s family thanksgiving. Two things: the message and the meal had always endeared Larry to look forward to it every year. The unforgettable year for Larry came with a message he held unto for so many years before he fell.

  As both mother and son were entering the church, the pastor was just about preaching.

  “We’ll be looking at a very important message together for this year’s Family Thanksgiving Service,” announced the Pastor. The whole congregation echoed in unison, “A—m—e—n!” The Pastor continued, “As a church, we need not be told again that spending our eternity with God in heaven is our primary priority. Every other one is secondary. It’s unfortunate today that many chase after the secondary, losing their major assignment as sons and daughters of God. And it is the assurance of that destination that establishes our destiny to prosper. Let’s flip through the pages of the bible a little bit. Matthew….”

  By now, Larry had crept out of the church for the venue where food will be served to wait upon the Lord as he’d always say each time he was caught in a place where he was not supposed to be in the first place. When the time came for the food, he collected his and zoomed off to a secluded place, gulped it down his throat. Before he could finish the food, his mother had also been looking for him. He quickly trashed the remnant and went home with his mother.

  Since then, everything pertaining to the kingdom of God did he handle with care. He never wanted an excuse why he couldn’t make heaven. This good of his continued until he was to delight in porn, which snatched him completely from God’s back.

  ***

  Dazed at what he just heard, which was against what he used to hear from his pastor as a child, Larry stooped on the floor, grabbed his head and scratched it violently. He raised his head to look at the creature. Ravage her again? Why will I do that again? So, heaven, hell and reincarnation were all but hoax? What about the life after death Pastor used to talk about? Am I really the unluckiest being to have ever been created? These thoughts kept bubbling in his mind. Another thought spoke to him, What if you decline the offer?

  He had barely thought of this than he felt a severe pain all over his body. All of a sudden, he began to convulse so badly that trickles of liquid foam began to form at his lips.

  “Okay,” said Larry who struggled to force the word out of his mouth. “I will do that, but please end the pain, please.”

  “Ah, I’m so glad you said,” the Old One delightfully told him. He pointed to one of his large clawed fingers and Larry’s wounds started to heal. Soon, his skin had grown back, and then, his hair was beginning to appear again.

  “Here she comes.” Larry was surprised to have seen her there with him. Her pretty face that glittered like a new star born reminded him when such face was shut, while he slept with her by forcing his prick into her pussy.

  After appearing suddenly among the trees of the forest, that spoke only the language of deep darkness, she wore a bewildered cloak on her face while peering around to see whom she could recognize in the dark forest. Amy became more confused than Larry, having found herself in a place she could fathom how she got there. Pain, agony, and even death loomed around her wherever she went. Her mouth was left wide open after she sighted the creature with facial features.

  “Who are you?” She asked, with her question directed at both Larry and the Old One.

  “We are friends, my dear, don’t you worry. Larry here will give you a tour of the place.” The look the Old One cast on Larry and the latter’s reaction clearly showed they both understood each other.

  Then, he looked at Amy, still in her perplexed state, and then had the clear understanding that the deal he’d just made. The Old One didn’t want him to just rape her, he wanted Larry to kill her, and then rape her once again. He could sense the appetite brewing in the Old One; feel his desire for pain, and for suffering.

  Suddenly, it began pouring rain, and the clouds overhead darkened. Larry knew that wasn’t a natural cause. The creature must have altered nature again. From a distance, thunder cloud roared scarily as it drew nearer.

  “If you wish, I can take you to a place a bit more…private.” The Old One smiled lovingly and a positive nod, indicating that what he’d planned so well would in no time materialized.

  Ignorant of what that meant, Amy looked back at Larry. “Yes, please, that would be better.”

  Larry immediately knew what to do.

  “There is a cozy cabin you two can go to nearby, just follow the trail up the hill and you’ll find it,” said the Old One.

  Amy still lost for words while she walked in the woods, followed Larry’s lead. And while they trod the path in the woodland, laced with darkness, they heard the pleasurable wailing of lost souls in agony. Even the wind seemed t
o weep bitterly in despair there. There were several people hanging from trees, looking at them as they passed by.

  A cold substance travelled down her spine. She felt the whole world was going to crash in on her. The eerie voices in the wooded area kept banging in her head as if she was the only one listening to their sad complaining voices, having done nothing except to wander about. Getting to that place still baffled her, but for the agonies that flew in the air, she had her tongue in her cheeks with regards to what to say or think about.

  Having observed that she wasn’t herself anymore, Larry offered a help by admonishing her, “Don’t look at them Amy! The Old One said they’re all but illusions.”

  And after what appeared to be hours of walking on foot, and drenched from the rain, both of them arrived at the cabin, talked about by the Old One. While they were there, they dried their clothes and lit a fire in the fireplace. The cabinet had two floors. The first was a living area with a fireplace and a table with some chairs there, and on top of the table laid a large hunting knife by itself. Seeing that, the message was clear to Larry. In the upstairs bedroom, there was only one bed. There were some scary-looking statues in the cabin. Also, some masks, as of the one the cult members wore, were hung on the walls.

  When they got inside, Larry was waiting for Amy to set ablaze intimate interaction between them; same runs through Amy’s mind as well. Larry told Amy he could sleep on the floor if she wanted, there was no problem. She declined the request on the ground that she was scared. And every of her attempt to squeeze out information from Larry proved abortive as the latter remained quiet, telling her to only please trust him.

  While inside, Larry tried to hold back the tears, as the thought of what he was about to do crossed his mind. Without looking at Amy’s face, he took her hand and whispered in her ears, “It’s gonna be ok, alright?”

  “I don’t know,” came her reply which stunned Larry.

  “You won’t tell me anything of what’s going on.”

  “Amy, listen, there is something that I have to do, but you have to trust me, please.”

  Unconvincingly, she said, “Ok!”

  Larry began to search for a notepad, which got Amy worried. Minutes later, he found it and a pen in the dresser room table next to the bed.

  “Could you wait for me downstairs, please?” he asked her, and she obliged grudgingly. Soon, Larry knew what he needed to do, after she had left the room for him to think straight.

  With pen in his hand, he began to write. He must’ve been writing for more than a couple of hours, because Amy knocked on the door of the bedroom to inquire if everything was really okay. Larry swiftly sent packing a couple of tears from his face and folded the letter, while he went to get the door. Amy knew all wasn’t well with Larry when she saw his face reddened already.

  “Listen, we don’t have much time,” he said.

  “I need you to read this.” He handed Amy the letter as he paced up and down the room.

  “What is this?” she asked with nervousness in her speech.

  “Stop these questions of yours and just read it please.”

  Amy opened the letter and began to read. About halfway through, the expression she wore when she came in had been stripped of her, and she looked at Larry.

  “I know, I know,” said Larry. “But please read till the end before your look slaughters me.”

  A few moments later, Amy put the letter down and lay down on the bed, covering her face with her hands. She began to whimper and let loose deep agonizing sobs of pain.

  “How could you do that to a person?” she yelled.

  “How can you be that stick? And what is all about us being stuck here? What the hell is all this?” Amy’s voice thundered as she could no longer curtail her annoyance. Larry reached out to comfort her but she immediately moved away. “Don’t touch me, you fucking psycho pervert,” she spat in his face. “Go sleep in the rain, I don’t want you here.”

  “Can you please read the last page of the letter?” suggested Larry. “Please, it’s the most important part.”

  Wiping away her tears, Amy looked at Larry with the purest hate he had ever seen. “Ok, but after that you go find some other place to stay, I don’t want you around me here. And to think I trusted you, God. I’m so stupid.” She began to sob again.

  “Amy, please stop whining and just read the last page.”

  And so she did. Once she was finished, she looked at Larry in perplexity. “Will you be able to do it?” Larry asked her with his eyes beginning to gather erosion of tears as well.

  Shocked after looking down at the floor, then back at Larry, she said, “But, I don’t understand.” Then, she sounded like one who had resigned to fate.

  “You don’t have to. But it’s the only way we’ll beat him and be in peace. I don’t trust a word he says about all souls spending eternity here. It can’t be.” Larry asserted.

  “But how is this going to help? If he’s what you say he is, he’ll just revive us again and keep torturing us.”

  “I know,” said Larry. “But each time he will grow weaker. Each gesture of love and sacrifice takes away power from him. And to be honest, for the things I’ve done, I feel I deserve it.”

  Tears began to flow down Amy’s cheek, while she laughed simultaneously. “Ok,” said Amy. “Let’s do it.”

  “At the moment, we have to only think of positive things, things that bring us joy, people we love…And think of this as an act of love and compassion as well.”

  “Does it have to be with that stupid knife?” asked Amy.

  “Yeah, I think so. There’s no other silverware.” Amy allowed another painful laughter to escape from her mouth. She couldn’t believe her ears absorbing the solution proffered by Larry.

  “I’ll go get it,” uttered Larry. He went downstairs, picked up the knife, and went back up the stairs. What he saw when he entered the room made him drop to his knees. Amy lay on the bed, naked, but not in a natural position. And suddenly, it dawned on him. She was in the exact same position when he had found her at the morgue, when he had taken her back to his house to have sex with her corpse. Her skin tone was bluish, and her posture looked stiff, like a mannequin.

  “Well,” said the Old One, suddenly appearing out of a dark corner of the room. “I have to say I’m a little disappointed in you Larry. The funny thing is I actually had a little faith in you.”

  “You mothefucker….” Muttered Larry.

  The Old One laughed, this time hard. “Oh, I love these new age insults. They always change, but the sentiment remains always the same.” He picked up the letter from the bed and began reading it out loud. After he finishes reading it, he threw it at Larry.

  “You’re pathetic,” said the Old One. “Can’t even tell the poor girl to her face that you defiled her corpse?”

  A sudden anger, hatred so huge like a monster, began to build up inside Larry. He could feel his aura pulsing, and the electrified feeling was so powerful that the energy it carried could raze down a country. This electric current filled the air.

  “Want me to bring in your mother too now Larry so that you can plan more pathetic schemes? This time, you’ll have to cut open your veins in the bathtub instead of her?”

  “Don’t you mention my mother…”

  “I can mention several things, my friend. Your mother was such a whore that you don’t even know who your father is. Did you like pulling up her skirt when she was unconscious and sticking your little pecker in her? Was that fun?” The Old One smiled wryly.

  The anger in Larry continued building. However, this time, it was different. He could sense a power he had never felt before. His hands, curled tightly into fists, began to emit more heat and electricity, though he still remained muted.

  “Did you like it when she caught you masturbating, and she showed you her tits and pussy?” the Old One laughed cynically. “Oh Larry, you crack me up so much.”

  All around Larry, a
radiation of heat began to pulse eerily, making him to start turning to reddish-yellow.

  The Old One pointed one of its long fingers at Amy and she suddenly began to regenerate. As she started breathing, she began gasping for air, clutching at her throat.

  “What are you doing to her?” screamed Larry in anger.

  “Oh, just having a bit of fun, that’s all.” The Old One made a hand movement and suddenly Amy flew off the bed toward one of the walls.

  “Stop that!” yelled Larry who felt sorry for Amy that was made to go through an undeserved punishment.

  With his eyes focused on Larry, “There’s not much you can do my friend, but watch. Your turn is next by the way.”

  Lunging at the Old One, exerting so much vigor, Larry grabbed his arm, and pushed him against the wall. I shouldn’t have done that. He thought. The Old One, realizing Larry was becoming violent, muttered a sentence, a magical spell spiced with the ancient language, and suddenly, Larry was flown across the room and hit the wall hard. He then made a couple of hand gestures, and Larry began to catch on fire again. Larry screamed in agony, having had his skin scorched.

  With a loud scream, Amy ran toward the Old One, but her race was too late. He lifted a finger and she began to augment in the air, with her feet dangling above the ground. Then sparks of electricity began to fly toward her from the Old One’s hand, making her convulse, burn, and scream. Amy, while flailing her legs in the air, thought of what she could do to save herself from the mess she found herself, but nothing seemed to working in her favor.

  ***

  “I’ve always wanted to be the most famous being on earth, with my picture and name appearing on the yearly beauty magazine,” Amy told her friends as they made their way to college for lecture.

  “But fame comes with its pain and it doesn’t last long, you know?” asked Becky.

  “Even, if it’s just for two hours, I don’t care! All I care about is to be on the whole world’s lips forever after the hall of fame.”

  Everybody knew what her goals had been all about. Wherever Amy went, the aura of her goal never got dried on her lips, as she kept reminding all her contemporaries what her plans in life were.