Edge of End

by Suren Hakobyan

  Chapter eleven: Mist

  Every so often Elizabeth glanced back over her shoulder, probably to make sure the dark palace stood behind and wasn’t hounding us.

  Perhaps she had also been worried about her own house. If Malcolm was right, and it would come and overtake her, then my tries to save her would be of no use. But luck was on her side, and we hadn’t seen it moving ahead of us.

  She was walking on my right. I watched her just in case any peculiar or hideous creature emerged from any of the yards. I would protect her. At that point I felt so mighty, indestructible and in such a deep lust that I could save her, easily.

  Malcolm seemed anxious, waiting for the town to show its strength, its true colors, its worst side, but the town kept quiet and let us pass through with ease. The great ease and the emptiness of the street even began to worry me.

  “Not too much farther,” I remarked as I looked forward at the light in hope.

  “The show's not over until the fat lady sings,” Malcolm randomly blurted out.

  “Look!” Elizabeth’s startled tone made me look at her first before whatever she was pointing to.

  She had lost all the color in her face; she appeared drained and ghostly white. Her glassy eyes widened as she stared dumbfounded at the light source. Without asking her, I whirled around. What lay before us perplexed me, too.

  The three of us stood petrified in the middle of the dirt road looking at a big misty cloud that lowered itself down onto us from the gray sky. With whooshing movements through the sky, the colossal fog moved at a surprisingly quick speed. It hung in the air and mingled with the light of my salvation, and within a moment it had enveloped the light, removing it from our view. Like a huge tsunami the fog was coming towards us. I had barely a moment to think–should we run and hide somewhere?

  “What is it Jonathan?” Elizabeth asked; her voice slightly hysterical. She held tightly onto my arm; I think she thought that by doing that the foggy wind couldn’t sweep her away.

  “Malcolm, what are we supposed to do?” There was doubt in my voice, too.

  “The mist has never come right after the storm,” Malcolm muttered without turning his eye away from the oncoming white mass. “I told you the town would change its rules if we try to skirt around them,” he answered back knowingly.

  “But what is it?” I was jabbing my finger ahead looking for answers.

  “That’s not what we should be afraid of,” he warned, “The fog is just a cover. We should be dread of the cruel things wandering in it.”

  Before Malcolm could even finish off his sentence, the mist had enveloped and overwhelmed us. With its arrival came a dreadful cacophonous noise, an evil hissing sound that pierced my eardrums lasting just for a second, and then it disappeared.

  My hair ruffled up in the wind, then, in the same breath, it fell limply back down and rested on my forehead.

  The air froze and stopped.

  We stood in the middle of the fogs path in our complete ignorance amidst the dense cloud where our normal human eyes could make out nothing.

  “Is the fog poisoned or something?” I asked in a hushed voice.

  “No,” Malcolm replied idly.

  “At least we know where to go,” I said.

  “Shhh,” Malcolm hissed. “Listen carefully for the sound of flapping wings.”

  “Wings?” that was Elizabeth, who was leaning against me her hand resting on my shoulder. “There are flying things in that mist?”

  Malcolm didn’t have to answer with words, his eye said yes.

  “Yeah, of course,” I showed my displeasure. But then why was I surprised? I had lived my life in a wrong way although I’d been told of the judgment awaiting me afterlife, still I had gone on with pursuing my own whim, and here I had winged demons, eerie dogs, one-eyed old man complaining around on everything Elizabeth and I did, and a beautiful red-haired woman whom I was supposed to save, not to mention the storm-soul-suckers, the bitch from the café and the damned things that the town hadn’t uncovered yet waiting for the right moment to let loose.

  Automatically Elizabeth and I peered upwards expecting to see monstrous flying birds circling our heads, but there was only a single floating cloud, and if I had stretched up my hand, I would have been able to touch it with ease.

  Malcolm began moving again, this time in silence. I continued to cradle Elizabeth’s hand in mine as we trudged behind him, trying to keep a close step behind him. It felt like we were stuck on replay, covering the same ground over and over and seeing the same houses–all the time the light remained hidden from our view.

  “You sure we go in the right direction?” Elizabeth asked Malcolm.

  The old man hummed.

  “Jonathan, shouldn’t we take a break and hide until the mist has passed?” she said.

  “It’s risky. The passage could’ve closed up by then,” I said. “Besides your house is moving, remember? It might overtake us while we’re waiting.”

  “We wait and something worse will follow the mist,” Malcolm said. “In the ton like this you can’t know what to expect.”

  “So we go on,” I finished his sentence.

  “Okay,” she admitted grudgingly, her voice barely audible.

  We caught each other’s eye and all of a sudden a wave of passionate desire washed over me rushing through my body. I was desperate to bend down and take her into a warm embrace and kiss her wildly. Instead, I managed to control myself by clenching my teeth to stifle the urge. My emotions distracted me, and I didn’t notice that Malcolm had halted right in front me. I walked right into his back.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked worriedly.

  He stood statue-like in the middle of the road gazing excitedly into the heart of the mist.

  “Malcolm, can you see something out there?”

  He didn’t answer, as if he hadn't heard me. I narrowed my eyes and looked straight ahead. Straining my ears, I tried to detect the slightest noise, but I was met with absolute silence.

  I knew that Malcolm’s sense of perception worked much more effectively than mine or Elizabeth’s. A glimpse of Malcolm was enough to tell me something was wrong (everything was definitely wrong here, I mean something more wrong in this already wrong place) or that something dangerous was approaching.

  The mist seemed calm, a strange kind of calm as if absolute evil was dwelling inside it, crawling, sneaking up on us slyly. It had been asleep, and now it’d woken up.

  “They’re coming,” Malcolm said abruptly.

  What they? I thought, my eyes running to and fro looking for that ‘they’. “Get ready, Jonathan.”

  “Get ready for what?” I asked aloud.

  “For everything your poor mind can imagine you nosy son of a bitch,” he faced me and grinned smugly. I frowned in response to his look–he was incredibly rude.

  “What the?–” a moment of anger suddenly seized me.

  It was a game for him. He looked like a child whose parents had just bought a new Monopoly game for his birthday present, and it was time to unwrap the box and play.

  A gust of wind swept across my head ruffling my hair again. Loud flapping echoes of wings could be heard through the fog. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t very high above us, much closer than I had expected, but my blinded eyes failed to see it through the haze.

  “Jonathan, it sounds like it’s just above us,” Elizabeth clung to me.

  “I know,” I replied warily as my eyes sought the owner or owners of those pounding wings amongst the mist. “Malcolm, should we wait and fight?”

  “We should run,” and Malcolm broke into a run before he had even finished his words.

  “What…?” I looked after him. “You’ve got to be kidding me? Come on,” I tugged Elizabeth’s hand urging her to move, and we ran.

  A loud thunderous roar like a hungry dinosaur’s growl echoed through the air. The unbearable sounds burned the insides of my ears, and I screwed my eyes up in discomfort, but it didn’t stop the pa
in, so I dragged Elizabeth forcefully.

  She screamed out loud, “Jonathan, stop!”

  “No way,” I cried out loudly, but my voice couldn’t drown out the agonizing moans of the angered beast.

  We ran fast, faster than ever before, all the time my head ringing like a church bell as if a little monk had slipped inside my head and was shaking my brain. The still concealed demons, or whatever they were, which were flying through the mist, were weakening their victims–us, before the final attack. We couldn’t see them, but, I guessed, they could see us. We were the prey, and they were the predators. They were hounding a blind bear in a tiny cage.

  As I ran I did a quick search of my surroundings. Malcolm had vanished in the mist. He had just run away leaving us alone. I had been right to doubt him.

  I glanced up towards where the real danger was coming from. I could feel it flying above us, pursuing us and was using the fog as its cover.

  “Run, Elizabeth, come on,” I shouted.

  “We can hide somewhere and lay low for a bit,” she said panting, but I ignored her and just then I felt something approaching quickly from behind.

  I wheeled around with my fists clenched. My heart thumped in my chest. Elizabeth stood right at my side; her eyes stared into the fog in fear.

  Right on cue the cloud retreated and a big swooping animal, the size of a dog, came into my view. No, it wasn’t an animal as such, but a demon, a ghastly looking creature as black as coal with sticky skin, and two ripped wings protruded from its back. Its demon-like face was decorated by two smoking horns on its head. It wasn’t a dragon, and I doubted it breathed flames, but it was the most grotesque animal I had ever seen, a hideous creature that was beyond comprehension.

  A chill ran down my spine. Elizabeth cried out in shock and flung herself into my arms. Confused, I staggered back. It had just appeared and within a matter of seconds was blocking our path and ready to snap our heads.

  I acted instinctively and pushed Elizabeth aside. I wouldn’t have had much time to defend myself if Malcolm hadn't appeared from nowhere grabbing the flying demon from just in front of my face and slamming it hard into the dusty ground. The demon’s body sent small puffs of dirt flying as it hit terra.

  Around and around they went, rolling together locked in each other’s grasp. The beast was on top of Malcolm, its mouth wide open baring its sharpened teeth ready for the kill and to decapitate Malcolm, but the old man was surprisingly agile. Grabbing it by its scraggly neck tightly, he pushed it to the side with all his might.

  Malcolm was on his feet again and threw a heavy punch into the demons chest. Shrieking from the unbearable pain, the demon fell back, its tattered wings flapping frantically. Again it disappeared in the mist.

  For a moment or two I remained dead still, staring blankly at the old man I wasn’t certain whether I should be glad that he hadn’t deserted us, but one thing I knew for sure was he had just saved my life.

  The repetitive groans and howls of the flying demons echoed in the fog, and their invisible waves ricocheted off my chest.

  “Run, idiot,” Malcolm ordered gruffly.

  I shook myself to my senses, grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and darted ahead.

  “Did you see that?” Elizabeth asked as we quickly ran.

  “Nothing to be surprised by. This’s the hell darling,” I teased.

  With eagle eyes, I scanned my surroundings on the lookout for new demons. I knew they were up there, gathering around us. They were trying to cut in front of us and block our way to the light source. Malcolm fell a few steps behind guarding our backs, but the real danger lay in front.

  I had to come up with a quick plan to get us out of this situation. We were running into the throes of the clawed demons barehanded. My power. Balling up my left hand into a tight fist, I tried to summon the superhuman powers that were circulating through my clenched fingers like an invisible glove. I wasn’t going to give up. I would fight.

  “They are in front of us, Malcolm,” I said over my shoulder.

  “I know,” he cried back.

  “Any ideas?”

  “Nope! Just hit everything you see.”

  “Good thinking,” I replied grumpily.

  From nowhere a minivan appeared, parked only a few steps ahead of us. The dense fog had been blanketing it, keeping it camouflaged. Dropping Elizabeth’s hand, I moved closer to it and reached for the front door.

  “Where are you going?” Elizabeth whined at me. “You want to drive through them?”

  “The engine won’t start Jonathan,” Malcolm said from behind. “Let it go.”

  But I hadn’t intended to drive it.

  I swung the door open and with my two hands I ripped it from its hinges. It was easy and gave up as if I had been simply tearing a page from a notebook. I held the metal door above my head using it as a shield.

  My other hand tightened up even more, ready to throw a punch or two. I threw a quick look back at Elizabeth, my eyebrows arched in determination. I was ready.

  “Stick close to me,” I instructed as I took off running.

  My power had multiplied again, a huge rush of power pumping through my body, pulsating in my throbbing veins. My power boost made me braver, more resolute.

  “Jonathan,” Malcolm called to me. “They are right in front of us. Get ready.”

  As if anyone could get ready for a big pack of demons. He had caught up to me and was on my left. In our short line, we made our way together into the hazy heart of the mist, but Elizabeth, being more cautious, kept a step distance behind. Malcolm and I exchanged a knowing glance one last time before coming face to face with the demons. I gave him a nod acknowledging my readiness.

  I tore my eyes away from him and peered ahead trying to make out what lay in front of us.

  The first demon reared its ugly head–its long sinewy wings fused with the fog. Our eyes met–its eyes were jet black and shone like a puddle of oil.

  Suddenly it set off rushing towards me, and as it swung its disturbing looking wing, I dodged and took a bow.

  With an outstretched hand, I gripped onto my makeshift shield. Protected, I strode towards the raging beast with great confidence. The beast’s face met the side of the car door and as the two collided the metal door cracked. The monster was flung backwards and flew through the air like a baseball.

  I charged towards the other flying demons coming in my direction. Two of them swooped down towards me. My natural reaction was to lift my shield in front of my face, and as I did, I threw myself against one of the beasts which was frothing at the mouth. It landed on my shield managing to secure itself with its legs. Out of the corner of my eye I saw its angry-looking face appear directly above my head.

  My hidden powers surged through my veins again and rippled throughout my body. My fist grew more powerful as I punched the demon directly in its face–its temples to be exact. It unlatched its feet from my shield with a sudden heave and threw it far into the distance.

  Its body tumbled through the air, and as it hurtled away from me, it writhed in pain and screeched an unearthly sound. It dropped to the ground, and lay there with its legs sprawled out. Again I used my power to give it one last kick. As it rolled across the dusty road, I heard a voice rather like bones break, and the sound of its body scraping along the ground rang in my ears.

  Malcolm fought the other demon down, catching it in the air and slamming it onto the ground much as I had, the ground shaking beneath our feet.

  We paused and looked at each other knowingly for a moment then Malcolm rushed ahead. I glanced back in search of Elizabeth. She was still behind.

  Just as I had turned my back, another demon appeared from nowhere, landing on my back, its claws tearing into me. Again I defended myself with my shield, my only weapon, and I struck the beast with force. It went cartwheeled across the ground, then stood up dizzy and shook its head absently. I didn’t give it enough time to regain its senses as I jumped onto the staggering beast. The demon eyed me from
the air and retreated, its prominent black eyes following me.

  I landed right beside the fallen demon and stabbed my shield into its neck. It yelped in pain, falling to the ground, its body contorted in agony.

  But now there were a lot of flying beasts swirling around us. They were as fast as they were strong, and even I couldn’t fight them all together.

  Before I had a chance to regroup, there was another falling on me, grabbing me by the shoulder. My automatic response was to punch it in its face.

  I yelled in a fit of rage as my fist hit its razor-sharp teeth. Blood flowed from the cut covering my hand in red, but despite it I managed to free myself from the monster’s claws.

  “Jonathan, watch out!” Elizabeth cried, startled and pointing behind my back.

  I spun around quickly my shield raised ready for the attack. The powerful demon hit the car door at full speed. I lost my balance and stumbled back, falling until I hit the ground with a thump. Both hands up, I held the shield in front of me. It had become heavier with the crafty demon standing on it with its full weight.

  “Jonathan!” Elizabeth yelled again.

  I struggled to turn my heavy head in her direction. The demon had pressed me against the ground firmly. I bawled in frustration, trying to lift the metal door and the demon on it, but it didn’t move.

  I was captured, locked between my shield and the ground.

  The flying demon’s face appeared from behind the shield; two green eyes full of evil pinned on a dark gray face. Smoke billowed from its nostrils as it blew out an exasperated breath, saliva dribbled onto the shield. I watched it pinned beneath its weight, unable to move. With those sharp teeth it had bared, it would tear my head in a fraction of a second.

  There was no time to wonder what I would feel while I was being stabbed by its sharp nails and teeth. Suddenly, the demon rolled aside and I was able to regain my feet. I lowered the shield and wonderingly looked about in search of my savior.

  “Get up,” Elizabeth held out her hand to me.

  There was no time to waste. I grabbed her hand and she pulled me up. The demon sprang to its feet shaking its head.

  “Nice strike,” I told Elizabeth.

  “You could just say thanks,” she panted.

  “Get back!” and I shoved her backward.

  Sniffing angrily, the flying beast glared at me. Hurriedly I snatched the car door, holding it before me again and waiting for the demon to make the first move.

  It roared and flung itself onto me, its long nails outstretched. I jerked aside momentarily, and, putting all my power into the hand holding the shield, struck it in the head. The crack of its neck as it broke was loud, and the evil animal crashed down at my feet, motionless.

  Immediately I wheeled around to discover Elizabeth fighting against another demon with no success, and she set off at a run. Yet another demon joined the first, appearing from the dense mist, both chasing her. I tried to go to her aid, but was stopped by a third demon.

  “Elizabeth!” I called out in panic running towards where I had last seen her. “Malcolm,” I threw back, “I’m after Elizabeth.”

  Fog had masked my view of her. But I hurried to her as quickly as my legs would carry me.

  As I sprinted, particles of mist hit my face and finally she came into my view only about ten steps or so ahead, but the demons were still hot on her tail. Only a single step separated the closest one from her, so I had no time whatsoever to think about what I was doing. From a distance, I hurled my make-shift shield at the demon. Like a spear it flew through the air and pierced its body.

  “Elizabeth, stop!” I roared, but she was too scared and didn’t pay any attention to my command.

  Without considering the consequences, Elizabeth ran into the front yard of a bleak-looking house. She had completely forgotten everything we had learned and ran towards the front door. Unfortunately, the door was wide open, and she flung herself inside without looking back.

  I was about to dart after her when Malcolm’s hand leaped out from the fog and held me back firmly.

  “Jonathan, whatever you do, don’t go inside,” he instructed me firmly. “It’s too dangerous, more so than outside.”

  I looked at him, sharply shaking my hand out of his clutch, “I’m going after her no matter what the danger.”

  “The power in your hands is helpless against the evil dwelling in the last houses of the town Jonathan,” Malcolm warned. “They are not as simple as Elizabeth’s house. It’s time to get on and get over her. You can’t save her, don’t you understand?”

  “To hell with them, I won’t leave her.” With these words, I pulled my eyes away from his intense stare and determinedly set off towards the house.

  I didn’t know why Elizabeth and I had met each other or whether we had been supposed to meet, but deep inside I felt it would be worthless to flee the town without her. It was quite possible that she was the only person there that didn’t actually deserve such afterlife. I know people like Malcolm and I in real life would never help someone like Elizabeth at all; mainly because we had been monsters in our pasts.

  But having been on the threshold of hell and having transformed into a new me, (I didn’t remember my old one, as my memories were lost and I hoped they would never return) I realized I had a chance to redeem myself, to become a man who would deserve better than hell. Elizabeth was the key to the cleansing of my soul; I was her salvation. More determined than ever, I headed straight for the house.

  Although the fog concealed the demons in the air above me, I could feel them soaring around my head. They didn’t try to stop me going in.

  A dog caught me off guard, appearing from behind the house. For a brief moment I recoiled, but I quickly came to my senses and ran to meet it. As it unlatched from the ground I threw myself down and glided over the ground. Avoiding its grip I jumped into my feet and dashed towards the door. Adrenalin ran through my body, and with a sudden surge of enthusiasm I ran up the steps and kicked the door in.

  It flew open, and I entered with ease.