The Hunter in the Shadows

by Joab Stieglitz

  Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god! the voice said again, and this time Anna realized it was the thoughts of the woman bound to the column across the path. Anna strained to glance at her again. She was younger than Anna, perhaps early twenties, and wore a fashionable, long, plaid, wool skirt with a dark, loose, long-sleeved blouse. Her hair was a golden shade of brown.

  Sobak, Anna thought, focusing on the girl described in the alien book. Of course, the paralyzed woman showed no indication of having heard her, if she even could. Sobak! she tried again with more intensity.

  Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god! the voice repeated. Now I’m hearing voices, too.

  The voice you are hearing is coming from the woman tied to the other column.

  What? How? Who

  I have come to rescue you and kill that monster.

  This is just my mind trying to deal with this. Standing here frozen for so long has strained my sanity.

  How long have you been here?

  OK, voice in my head, the skirted woman said defiantly, I’ll bite. I think I’ve been here about a week.

  Have you been paralyzed the whole time?

  I loosen up after a day or two, but that creepy guy comes back and injects something into my neck each time.

  Do you know why they captured you?

  The guy told that monster that I was the key to their Great Migration, whatever that means. Who are you?

  My name is Dr. Anna Rykov. I have been sent to kill the crocodile man and prevent the apocalypse. That Great Migration will be the disaster I was sent to stop.

  What do I have to do with the end of the world? I’m just Maggie White.

  What do you do? Anna felt compelled to ask for some reason.

  I’m a photographer. What does that have to do with anything?

  Perhaps nothing. Anna paused to collect her thoughts. Maggie, I am going to tell you something that you will find hard to believe, but I want you to consider it objectively. Can you do that?

  I suppose.

  You can change reality with your mind.

  What?

  You have the ability to change your surroundings through force of will.

  Horsefeathers! And how could you possibly know that?

  Because I could do the same in your world.

  What do you mean in my world?

  You and I are pan-dimensional sisters.

  Pan-dimensional what?

  We are sisters from different dimensions. I am from this one, and I was sent to yours, but unintentionally brought you back here with me.

  Okay, crazy lady! Stop right there! I know who I am and I’ve never seen you before in my life. She paused, and then said, and we look nothing alike!

  I know you have a past history and family that probably goes back generations, but that is all fiction. Your real name is Sobak, and you come from a land called Kreipsche that is ruled by the mad wizard Goh-Bazh

  Now I know you’re making this up. I was born in the Bronx and grew up in Bound Brook, New Jersey. I came to Boston to take pictures for Fortune Magazine of the effects of the stock market crash in New England.

  I grew up in Brighton Beach after my parents and I came from Russia in 1914. But when I was sent to your dimension, I found that I had another name, Nygof, and another life, as well as parents and a younger sister named Sobak. When I completed my mission there, I was brought back to this dimension, but your world collapsed, and parts of it manifested here.

  Listen, whoever you are, the voice said with irritation, leave me alone. I have enough to worry about without voices in my head!

  Sobak! Sobak!

  Go away!

  Maggie, Anna said, you are the only one who can get us out of this!

  Leave me alone! the voice shouted in Anna’s mind, and then the mental connection disappeared, leaving Anna with a tremendous headache.

  ◆

  Anna tried for an unknown period of time to regain her contact with the other prisoner — without success. At some point, she must have lost consciousness, because she was awakened by pressure on her neck, where she discovered that the man who had caught her on the staircase stood before her checking her pulse. Then he reached up to examine Anna’s bonds.

  “We wouldn’t want you breaking loose before the main event,” he said with amused sarcasm. “You might turn into one of them.” He indicated the statues of the women behind him, who were all in poses of panic. “They weren’t the right one, but Zakraph thinks that there is something special about the two of you, and maybe we need you both.

  “Numerous pantheons throughout history suggest a duality of light and dark, sun and moon, birth and death. Isis and Nephthys to the Egyptians, Freyr and Freyja to the Vikings, Yama and Yami to the Hindus, Hunahpu and Xbalanque to the Mayans, and many more as you know, Dr. Rykov.

  “Yes,” the blond man said with a cruel smile, “I know who you are. And I know why you are here.” He turned to the other paralyzed woman. “You are here to rescue this lost Aryan bloom,” he brushed Maggie’s cheek with the back if his hand affectionately before it wandered over her body, “and stop us from bringing forth the rise of Germanic supremacy. But you are too late, for we will summon forth the future!” He laughed maniacally as left the greenhouse.

  ◆

  Anna was aghast. The Thule Society was already in contact with the Xuxaax, and had been for some time. She had been sent to them, and her presence was apparently required for the ritual to bring the crocodile-man race forward in time. They would flood out of the gate, cause death and destruction, and keep the United States occupied while Germany prepared for a new war and then took over the world.

  Or at least that is what the Germans thought. The Xuxaax, like all the extra-dimensional beings she had encountered, could not be trusted. Lyton had led her straight into the enemy’s hands. He must have planted the images in her dream to appear immediately before he arrived to recruit her. And now she was powerless to stop them.

  Or was she? They needed both her and Sobak to power the gate. If one or both of them failed to provide whatever they needed, perhaps the ritual would not work. But the prisoners needed to work in concert if they were to thwart the Xuxaax’ plan. She needed to convince Sobak to help her.

  Anna focused her mind on the other woman. Sobak! Sobak!

  Leave me alone! the voice in her mind shouted.

  Maggie! I need your help! We have to stop them from opening a gate and bringing forth more of those monsters!

  I am not an ancient goddess! I am not your sister from another dimension! I am just a girl from New Jersey who likes to take pictures!

  You are all of those things. Anna realized that she had had god-like powers in Goh-Bazh’s world, and Sobak must have those powers here. You have the power to free us. All you have to do is believe it to be so, and it will be!

  You are insane! It doesn’t work that way. Wishing doesn’t make things real!

  No! Anna replied, Wishing does not make things real. Do not wish! Believe! If you believe what you want to be real, then it will be.

  Suddenly, Anna felt extreme pressure that made her want to cry out, and Anna’s link to Sobak was gone. There was nothing of the sensation that the alien book had bestowed on her. Anna tried again and again, focusing on the psychic pathway that had been forged between them, but no trace of it remained.

  Perhaps I should read the tome again, she thought, and focused on the runes on the far wall. But this time the glyphs remained stationary, and the sensation she had felt when the writing moved did not occur again, no matter how long she concentrated on them.

  Perhaps the Collective can provide me with some assistance. Anna still did not know how she had sent her previous mental inquiries to them, but she fought back the mounting fear she felt and attempted to focus. How do I regain communication with Sobak? She repeated the thought over and over again, but there was no response. Either she was unable to make contact with the Collective, or they were not answering her.

  Chapter 19

&nbs
p; March 14, 1930

  Some time later, the blond man and the Xuxaax, Zakraph, returned. Zakraph carried a long, smooth, golden rod in his claws.

  “Well, ladies,” the man said, “it’s almost time. Soon, I, Conrad Fox, will open the way and the tribe of Zakraph will flow through. The new world order will arise, and the Aryan race will deal with the lesser races.” He looked at Sobak and said, “Any last requests?”

  As he reached to fondle her frozen form, the crocodile-man raised the golden rod up to place it into sockets in the two pillars and that faced each other. Fox grabbed one of its forearms and dragged it down.

  “Not yet,” Fox said. “We need to test the mono-polar pathway first. If one can establish the gate, we’ll see how strong it is. If she burns out, we will still have the other one. And if the way can be established, then we will insert the other and hopefully strengthen it.” He released the monster’s arm.

  “You see,” he continued, “The previous subjects were not suitable. Zakraph detected some potential in them, but it was insufficient. We tried four times adjusting the configuration, the inscriptions, and the incantations, but each time, the life force drained away and they were petrified.” He indicated the statues along the path.

  “But then the runes suggested that a more powerful subject was nearby. Zakraph purused the aura and we found you.” He cupped Maggie’s chin. “We thought you were the key, and while you have been more resilient that the others, my calculations suggest that even you alone would not be sufficient for our purposes.” He released her and turned to Anna. “What a boon it was that you, of all people, Dr. Rykov, should show up on our doorstep!

  “Your aura is nearly visible to the enlightened eye.” He tapped the middle of his forehead. “With your ‘sister’ to establish the gate, your life force should be more than adequate to keep it open.” He admired her form with a lustful grin. “And if you survive, you will serve me in other ways.”

  “Come, Zakraph,” Fox said as he stepped back to admire his involuntary subject with a satisfied grin. “We should give them some time to recover before the ritual begins.”

  Sobak! Sobak! Anna shouted mentally, but there was no response. Maggie! Speak to me! She sensed an emotional paralysis preventing the other woman from speaking. Maggie! That was part of the ritual he spoke of. It was intended to steal your will. You cannot let him take control of you! You cannot let him win!

  This is too much for me to take, a meek voice croaked. First, I’m hunted by a monster. Then I’m frozen like a statue in this hothouse. Then I’m talking to voices in my head. And now I’ve been menaced by Dr. Frankenstein. This can’t be real! It can’t be!

  It is only as real as you believe it to be. You can change this reality. You can free us and banish those monsters!

  I can’t. It’s not possible. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. It can’t be.

  Then the link was broken again.

  ◆

  Anna was revived from sleep by a loud snapping of fingers in her ear. She could tell by the light growing through the glass ceiling that morning was coming when she. Her arms ached, and Anna realized that she was no longer paralyzed. Instead, she hung painfully by her shackled wrists from the ring above her. She opened her eyes with a start, peering up the muzzle of the crocodile man and into his bulbous eyes.

  “You are not like the others,” the monster said in a whispering, hissing voice. “You have power, and you have been sent to prevent the arrival of the Xuxaax. But this world is ours, and we will reclaim it.”

  Just then, Conrad Fox entered the chamber, dressed in gold-trimmed ceremonial robes that reminded Anna of the ones that Goh-Bazh had worn. He walked behind Anna and slapped her rear hard. When Anna jumped with surprise, he said, “Good. Your paralysis has lapsed. Now we can begin.”

  “Begin what?” Anna croaked. Her throat was parched.

  Anna cried out as her head was painfully pulled back by the hair and Zakraph held her mouth open, Fox poured a beaker of milky, green fluid into her mouth. Anna gagged on the thick liquid, and she tried not to swallow, but lacked the strength to spit it out. Fox then emptied a large glass of water into her mouth, forcing the vile fluid down along with the welcome liquid. The artist released her hair, but the monster then forced her mouth closed and held her head back until she swallowed.

  “That’s better,” Fox said, returning to Anna’s view. He carried an easel bearing a covered canvas that he set down before her. Then he pulled off the cover with a flourish. The image was of her and Maggie, paralyzed and bound to the columns, their clothing in disarray as two of the crocodile men fondled and ravished them. It was incomplete, but Anna could see that both of the women in the portrait bore expressions of ecstasy. “What do you think? It’s early yet, but I think I’ve captured the scene rather well.”

  “What has happened?” Anna spat. “What have you done to us?”

  “Nothing has happened to you,” Fox said with distaste. “Not yet, at least.” He turned to Maggie and cupped her chin in his hand. Anna noticed that she was also not paralyzed, but that she was gagged with a leather bit that had a tube extending from it, and runes similar to those on the far wall had been drawn on her exposed skin. She screamed through the gag at his touch. “This one, however, will serve exquisitely.”

  Fox grinned sadistically as he pushed the tube into the leather, and, as Maggie started to gag, Anna realized that he was pushing it down her throat. Then he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The monster then stepped up to her and Fox turned her body until Anna saw her in profile. Maggie’s eyes widened in terror as the humanoid reptile inserted the exposed end of the tube into the roof of his mouth, and Anna could see something pass through it into hers.

  “What are you doing to her!” Anna shouted.

  “We’re preparing her for the ritual,” Fox said in a lackadaisical tone. Maggie’s eyes seemed to glaze over, and her body went slack, suspended by her wrists. Fox released Maggie and removed the device from her mouth. Stepping up to Anna, he wiped the length of the tube with his thumbs before handing it to the crocodile man. He then took Anna’s cheeks in his hands, stuffed both of his sticky-sweet thumbs into her mouth, and stretched her cheeks painfully. Anna tried to kick him, but her legs would not respond. “Don’t worry,” he said with a chuckle at her twitchy, erratic movements, “your turn will come soon.”

  Fox removed his thumbs, making sure to wipe the material on the inside of Anna’s mouth, and turned to Zakraph. “Let’s begin. How should we start this time?”

  “You are allowing this monster to conduct a ritual, and you do not even know what is supposed to happen?!” Anna said with contempt. “You are an exemplary representative of the Aryan race!”

  “Silence!” Fox shouted. “What is the procedure?”

  “Come,” Zakraph hissed, and the two stepped out of Anna’s view. “Do as I do,” he said, and started chanting. After a few iterations, Fox joined him, standing behind her. To Anna’s surprise, the artist’s pronunciation of the alien syllables was very close to that of the monster right from the start.

  “Xo nuj edso edo ev kxom, kxo Xuxaax Fhaojk.

  Xo hicot xoho ad kxoah dumo, hicot eloh Jecjkxoam.

  Rik xo tat dek johlo kxo Xuxaax, xo toleihot kxom.

  Udt cabo kxom, xo joobj ke hokihd.

  Oyi tatd'k kxadb kxuk Oyei noho kxo edcOy edo?

  Xo nuj kxo vahjk.

  Thuwed Xuxaax!”

  Anna tried to speak, but she could feel the anesthetic effect of the material from Fox’s thumbs numbing her mouth and throat. The chanting was mesmerizing, and as she watched, the runes carved into the very center of the arch in the far wall started to glow. At the same time, a faint pressure started building in Anna’s head.

  Suddenly, Anna felt a surge of electricity through her body and all her muscles flexed, her hair standing on end. In her peripheral vision, Anna could see that Maggie’s body had also straightened and she was standing at her full height on her
toes. At the same instant, the pressure in Anna’s head grew uncomfortable. Fox and Zakraph kept droning on, their resolve bolstered as the glowing runes on the far wall expanded to a nearly humanoid shape.

  The pain grew unbearable, but Anna was distracted by the feel of Fox as he pushed his body against her from behind and started caressing her arms. Everywhere he touched tingled, and Anna welcomed it as he moved down her arms to her shoulders, then up her neck to her face. Her head felt as if it might explode from the pain, but in her blurred vision Anna saw a figure emerge from the glowing arch.

  Chapter 20

  March 15, 1930

  Anna gaped as her vision cleared in spite of the throbbing pain in her head. The figure solidified into the form of another Xuxaax striding unevenly toward her from the arch in the wall, which was no longer glowing. Zakraph lumbered toward it with a similar gait that seemed to make the newcomer defensive. The two squared off, adopting an aggressive posture and circling each other. Their tails lashed wildly, and the newcomer struck one of the female statues, sending it crashing against a side wall, where it broke into several pieces. Anna noticed that the statue was not hollow. She could see the solidified innards of the woman where they were now exposed.

  Fox laughed maniacally, stepped in front of Anna, and kissed her. “It worked!” he said as he pointed to the second crocodile man. “It worked! The reign of the master race will begin soon!”

  “But do you know who the master race is?” Anna said hoarsely. The two reptilian beings were now interlocked, their jaws clamped down on each other, looking like scaly wrestlers. “Perhaps they have other plans for you.”

  “Those things only want to return to existence,” the artist said dismissively. “They don’t have the intelligence or skill to overthrow the Aryan people.” He paused as Zakraph threw the newcomer over his head by the tail. His opponent landed on its chest, and Zakraph mounted it. Fox smiled. “It seems we have brought our friend a mate.”