Beyond Tomorrow

by Leigh Vernon

  "Come on," Shay announced. "We need to get out of the open."

  No one argued with him, as it seemed to be the most appropriate thing to do at the moment.

  ---

  The beast tore off another entrance as it continued its journey towards Sam. In trying to keep up, Gianna found out she had cut herself against some of the jutting debris that followed in its wake. She wasn't bothered in any way. Her mission was simple: get to Sam before it got there first. She stopped running at the hallway to the ritual room and tried to catch her breath for a while. There was no other way than to go right through the hallway, but she realized she might get herself buried in debris if it arrived in the hallway's large entrance before her. Deciding to brave it, she started her run. There were some hanging chandeliers in the middle of the large room and she hauled herself towards one. It held firm a while before she began to sway it. Her aim was to swing herself towards the entrance of the room before the beast could get there. That way, she would be able to earn Sam at least a second get him prepared for what was coming. She was sure she could make the jump, and she almost made it through when the beast caught her in midair. It held her there, momentarily gazing into her eyes with its own large ones. Gianna also stood still. If this was it, she was ready to die for the cause. The beast snarled loudly and sniffed at her. It must have realized she wasn't an enemy, as it only flung her towards the room. Gianna turned in midair and managed to land awkwardly.

  Sam saw what was happening and stopped chanting. He ordered the others to remain where they were while he walked towards the approaching beast. It stood in front of him, breathing slowly as it looked round the room. It eyes traveled back to Sam's and it growled softly.

  "Easy, boy," he said to it. "Easy."

  Gianna stood where she was; she needed to rest and let him handle things here. There was still the case of their missing prisoner roaming around the mansion to attend to. If it came to it, there might be a need to provide protection while the ritual went on, and that was her own job.

  "I'll be outside if you need me," she said to Sam, walking up behind him.

  "There's no need for you to go anywhere," he answered without looking back. "I need you in here."

  She nodded and stood aside for him to continue the ritual. The beast also followed him in, walking to the crypt and rubbing itself against it.

  "Gentlemen, there is absolutely no need to be afraid," Sam announced to those gathered around him. "Your dreams are about to come true!"

  ---

  "There's one to your right. Up the stairs," Shay told Justin softly.

  The other man nodded and waited silently for the man to approach. As soon as he was midway down the stairs, Justin aimed and fired. The man yelped and fell down the stairs. Justin moved up quickly - if there was anyone of them up the stairs, he needed to be quick. He stood by the door and gestured for Shay to move forward. Duncan was on the other side, providing cover. Justin looked back and saw Sarah covering another point. He could have sworn they were military personnel by the way they handled the situation efficiently. He was about to move towards the door properly when a burst of gunshots made him stop.

  "Get down!" Shay shouted, and returned fire.

  Justin lay on his belly. He checked to make sure he wasn't hit before he equally returned fire. He rolled over and hit back to his feet, hugging the wall tightly. If anyone was coming through that door, he would be prepared for them.

  Duncan walked up the stairs with his guns down. The gunshots were now more rapid, and it was obvious that the person firing was more concerned with keeping them out than killing anyone. He dodged a fast-moving bullet and scrambled to his left to avoid another one. It was now clear that the first shooter was only creating chaos so they would think he was a bad shot - or he was one, and another shooter was using that advantage to take better shots at them. Duncan cursed under his breath as he adjusted his gun and grabbed two stun grenades. He threw them both under the door and waited to hear the help that escaped the lips of those inside.

  Justin rushed into the room quickly. One of them was struggling to get back to his feet to his right. He shot the man the man quickly and turned to another one who was trying to fix his jammed gun. He emptied three rounds into this own, using his propelling body as cover for the one shooting at him from close range. The man ran out of bullets and paused quickly to reload. Justin grinned wisely as he pinned his gun to the man's head. There was a dull click as the gun fired.

  "Crap, I'm out of bullets," Justin teased the man, who smiled ruefully and dropped his gun. He held both hands up and prepared for physical combat. "In one gun," Justin added, before he shot him with the gun in his other hand.

  Duncan charged in heavily, shooting a man to Justin's right who was taking careful aim. Justin gave him a nod and reloaded the clips to his guns. Sarah and Shay joined them, providing cover from behind.

  "There's no one left here," Justin announced loudly. "Let's go!"

  The others were about to join him when a shot rang out; someone had fired a shotgun and Justin was hit. Duncan returned fire quickly and dragged Justin out of the line of fire. Sarah provided more cover as Shay walked over to him. He checked him thoroughly, paying more attention to where the bullets had ripped his shirt open. The Kevlar had held up its own part of the bargain.

  "Come on, get up!" He said to the young man as he helped him up.

  "Move!" Duncan announced. "They're trying to box us in."

  The four of them held close together as they continued to shoot their way out of the room. One of the guards thought he could catch them by surprise and threw a grenade at them, but Justin saw it first. He ran towards the grenade and grabbed it before it hit the ground, flinging it back immediately. The explosion threw the man to the other side of the room with a loud boom.

  "Go, go, go!" Justin shouted to the others as he rejoined them.

  ---

  Sam's chants were loud enough to drown out the gun battle that raged outside, but Gianna heard it loud and clear. Had he not told her to stay, she would have gone out there to give their assailants something to ponder. She watched uninterestedly as the others continued to keep their eyes shut. She didn't understand why Sam was keeping them here, anyways. She had seen through most of them, and the reasons they wanted power were to oppress others while also feeding their own greedy natures. She doubted any of them were using the powers for anything except to amass wealth and loot public funds. Her eyes returned to Sam, who now held the compass in a precise position. He seemed to have found a better reading than he had before, as she saw his lips curved into a smile.

  Sam held the compass closer and tried the incantations again. The crypt moved slightly and something howled from inside. The howl was so loud that everyone within the house and its environs must have heard it. The men in the room grew very scared and some of them opened their eyes quickly. One of them mentioned not wanting to die in such a manner, and Sam watched without pity as a spirit entered the man and he fell to the ground, shaking violently. He ignored the man and continued with the ritual. The others returned to their stands with their fears now doubled.

  The compass was now pointing to one direction only. Sam walked towards that axis and raised his voice louder, repeating the same incantation over and over again until his voice was hoarse. Gianna felt something begin to burn her skin. She held it in, thinking it was just a ripple effect of what was going on in the room, but realized she couldn't hold it in anymore as her skin began to glow. She groaned loudly as she tried to ignore the burning sensation and focus on what Sam was doing. Her hands flew to the leather jacket she was wearing and she threw it off her. She also unbuttoned the shirt she had in and tore it off. The pain made her yell loudly as she did this. Her skin was glowing brightly, the words tattooed there running against each other. She screamed loudly and fell to the ground, writhing in great pain.

  The beast looked towards her and snorted. It wanted to move towards her, but stopped when the crypt vibrated ang
rily. Sam's back was turned to Gianna as he continued his incantations. There was a thunderclap outside and many of the hovering spirits quickly dissipated into the night air.

  ---

  Justin tried to see what was coming at him. He stopped shooting and hid behind a statue whose nose had been cut off by bullets. Something was wrong, and he could tell it had to do with what Sam was doing, wherever he was. He peeped out; they were outnumbered three to one by a group of guards. Shay had taken a bullet to the thigh and was limping through the pain. Nothing looked good for them. He had to do something, fast.

  The thunderclap had everyone holding their ears and dropping their guns - only Justin was unaffected by what was happening. He took the advantage and moved towards the guards quickly. One of them was hurled to his right, screaming loudly as he held his head. Justin made sure he never said anything again. Two were lying on the floor, crying from the pain they were experiencing. He gave them a wry look before firing into the two of them. The effect was wearing off, and he could see the others looking dazed as they got their hearing back. He dropped two more by a door and hid before the others would start firing at him. One of them saw him and decided to sneak up, but he didn't realize that Shay had seen him, and was waiting for him to come into his line of sight. The bullet hit him between the eyes, causing him to glare with surprise before falling down, dead. Justin looked out and gave Shay thumbs up. The other man nodded and gestured for him to move on.

  Duncan's shots were well calculated and easily placed. He was very meticulous with his use of bullets, as he knew they needed to get past the guards with all their strength still in full reserve. There was no telling what was waiting for them back there and what he had just seen was nothing easy to deal with. He checked his surroundings for something to confuse two of the guards with. They were just recovering from the effect of the thunderclap and seemed a little ruffled. Duncan grabbed a handful of stones and threw them to his right. The guards turned and fired non-stop at the spot; he aimed at them and fired twice, bringing both men down with each shot. He got to his feet and made for another vantage point. If it came to, he was ready to take out the guards with one shot after the other. After all, they had the whole night to do this.

  Justin was feeling the aftermath of carrying a gun for too long - both his wrists hurt like hell and his back smarted, but he had no choice than to keep shooting. A guard got too close to him, brandishing a large knife as he circled around.

  "Seriously?" Justin asked. "I have guns."

  The man stopped in his tracks and glared at him in shock. He probably thought everyone had lost their guns, just like he had lost his. He raised both arms just in time to get shot in the heart. The impact threw him back a few feet. Justin grinned; he hadn't seen anyone so stupid before. He linked up with Duncan and with their backs turned to each other, they brought down three more guards. Sarah also found her way to where they were.

  "See those fallen pillars?" She asked Justin, who nodded quickly. "The beast brought them down. He was trying to get somewhere…or was it trying to get to someone? Either way, I bet you we follow this trail, we find out wherever this is going down "

  Justin nodded. He peeped out from where he was hiding and caught a guard walking slowly towards them. Justin searched in the back and got out a stun grenade. The man yelled loudly when it blew up in his face. He moved out and fired at him.

  "Nicely done," Sarah said to Justin. Duncan snickered.

  "We have to go," Shay said to the trio as he limped towards them. "Time is almost up."

  ---

  Sam held the compass tightly and kept chanting. A liquid gushed out of the crypt and slowly crept towards the unsuspecting men who gathered round it. It covered the first man fully, making him stiff as it did. The others opened their eyes quickly and began to run towards the door. The liquid covered up each one of them, stifling their screams before they could even open their mouths. Only Sam was left standing with the compass in his hand. The dark liquid came together and formed the shape of a man. It stood before Sam and examined him for a while. Two fiery eyes appeared on its head, causing Sam to move back quickly.

  "It's you," he said softly, dropping to his knees. "I did it! I brought you back!"

  The figure ignored him and walked towards Gianna, who was still rolling around on the ground. It touched her slightly, a drop of its dark liquid falling on her as it did. Gianna stopped moving and was still for a moment. In that time, the figure studied the inking on her body carefully. It stopped all of a sudden and turned back to Sam.

  "She is yours," it said in a voice that sounded like a rushing of waters.

  Sam nodded quickly. "Yes. She is."

  "And you seek power beyond your immediate reach?"

  "Yes - more than anything, I do." Sam crawled forward and stopped a few feet away from where the figure was standing.

  It turned back to Gianna. "But there is one who has the power to end this all. He's coming."

  Sam got to his feet and tapped his phone a few times. The first two numbers he dialed were unresponsive. Frustrated, he dialed others and one of them picked up after three rings.

  "Where the hell are the rest of you?" He screamed at the guy. "I need security here, now!"

  The man said something that didn't come out clearly. Sam tried to tell him he couldn't make out what he was saying before the line went dead.

  "Humans," the figure said slowly. "There is never a time to trust them to live up to what is expected of them. It's a good thing I have my own army."

  The frozen men woke up after it snapped its supposed fingers at them. Two of them rushed out immediately, panting heavily as they ran along.

  "Find me a human whose body I can possess. I have no need to remain like this," it said to Sam.

  "I offer myself to you willingly. Use me," Sam said.

  The figure did something that sounded like a laugh. "Fool. I have better use for you. Now, find me that human; time is running out."

  Gianna had recovered herself by now. She was huddled to a side of the room, trying to get herself together. Sam walked up to her.

  "Are you okay?" He asked.

  She nodded briskly. "Cold..."

  He took off his jacket and gave it to her. "I'll be back."

  He gave the figure one long look before he walked out of the large room. His years of research, devotion and sacrifice were about to pay off; he would do anything to make sure that there was no compromise in making this reality see its fruition, nothing at all. Including the pests making their way towards the room at the moment.

  Chapter 24

  "Clear!" Justin shouted as he rounded a corner. "Looks like that's about the last of them," he added as the others joined him.

  Shay brought his gun down and sat on the ground. The bullet lodged in his thigh hurt like a stinger.

  "Need help with that?" Duncan asked, coming up from behind him.

  The other man nodded and let Duncan rip the pants he had on. He felt around the area and nodded. Shay held it together for him to have a proper check.

  "We need to get that out," Duncan finally said. "You'd only slow us down."

  Shay nodded. "Got something I can bite on?" He asked.

  Duncan handed him an empty cartridge. "What?" He asked, when the other man gave him a weird look. "It's not like I have surgical tools back here."

  Shay ignored him and bit down on the cartridge. Justin turned towards Sarah as Duncan brought out his large knife.

  "Why do I have this feeling that something is about to go wrong?" He asked.

  "Everything has been wrong for a long time now. It's hard to tell what that feels like," she answered him.

  He nodded. "It's different this time around, even worse than when Shay had forced himself into me."

  "I imagine how that must have felt - and worse, you had to carry his sorry ass around," she added.

  "Hey! I'm right here," Shay said to the two of them. Before he could add anything else, Duncan sloshed some whiskey on t
he wound.

  "Sorry," he said as Shay shot him a death look. He brought out some bandages and bound the wound. "That should do it."

  Justin walked forwards a little bit. "Incoming!" He shouted to the others, who grabbed their weapons immediately.

  Two dark figures were running towards them at unimaginable speed. Justin opened fire first, bringing one of them down. The others joined and the other one fell before it even reached half of where they were.

  "What in the name of whatever is that?" Duncan asked loudly.

  Justin moved towards the dark figures. One of them twitched and moved suddenly.

  "Holy Cow!" Shay muttered, and opened fire on it. It stopped moving and lay there.

  "We need to move," Justin said to them. "There may be more of these things around."

  "What are they?" Duncan asked.

  They all walked round the figures and continued deep into the mansion. They had barely gone a few feet when the two figures twitched and joined together. A larger version of them stood up and walked towards the party.

  Sam walked into the office and grabbed the phone on the desk. He dialed a number and waited impatiently.

  "Where are you?" He yelled at the person on the other side when they picked. "Get down here right now, and make sure you have some men with you."

  He dropped the phone and sank into the chair. His hands were shaky; he had thought the Seventh would choose him to carry his life force around, but he had been wrong. The entity had said it wanted someone else, despite everything he had done to make this possible. It wanted someone else because it had a different task for him. What could be more important than having to carry the life force of the strongest powered person ever to have lived? What else must he do to get what he wanted?

  His cell phone rang. It was the same person he had called - it looked like he was here already.

  "Come down to the office. Tell your men to shoot anything that isn't you or me," he said quickly.

  As soon as the man arrived, he got up from where he was sitting.