A Life in Darkness Read online

  Someone had taken a picture of the sky; you could see tall buildings reaching for the heavens. It was a digital photo with a timestamp on the left corner which read 1:37 p.m. The sky shouldn’t have been dark. Flipping open the paper I saw there were many such images on almost every page. There were pictures of the same blackened sky from all over the world: the United States, New China, the Pacific Union, the African Commonwealth, and Greater Europe. Looking at the front of the page again the image was dated eight years ago with the subtitle, “The Day of Dark.” Besides the fact that the entire planet and its billions of people were plunged into darkness, there was one thing in all of these pictures that unnerved me most about them: there were no stars in the sky. And the moon was also gone. It was as if a mighty hand had taken a giant paintbrush dipped in black paint and painted over the sky.

  I couldn’t reconcile this as I looked up; the stars and the moon were there. What the hell happened eight years ago? Very few details came in the reports sent back by the missing Scouter.

  This city, like others around the world at the time, once housed millions of people who only knew happiness and peace. Records scrounged up of that period and sent back to Central by the missing Scouter attested to this. This Earth had not had a single war in over a hundred years. Food was plentiful and most of the world had long since removed itself from its dependence on fossil fuels. The world was united and was preparing to reach out and plant itself in other parts of the solar system.

  Back home, we were expecting more details regarding what had happened to this world but the final message sent back was a recorded message and it was mostly garbled. What we did make out was that he had found Kari and her mother’s whereabouts but was unable to reach them. He was on the run, he was panicking, and worst of all, he was afraid.

  His name was Ethan Barris. He had a wife and an eight-year-old son waiting for him.

  ********

  I looked at the newspaper a moment longer before placing it back, a final testament to what became of this world. Closing the front panel I straightened, and as I did I saw reflected upon the cracked window a black figure standing stone still on the opposite sidewalk behind me.

  I froze. It wasn’t there when I walked into this area, I was sure of it. And I didn’t sense mental energies coming from whomever, whatever it was. I stood there, staring at its reflection in the window. It was my height but it looked thinner, almost gaunt. It had limbs and each hand and foot was properly accentuated with five fingers and toes. But it had no facial features. Looking at it reminded me of those tight, black body suits theater performers sometimes wore. I breathed harder as my heart raced. I didn’t want turn around; I couldn’t. There was something about it I didn’t want to face. If I did, it could be the last thing I’d ever do.

  But I had to. I had to know what its intentions were. And so I did turn around and a cold chill ran up and down my spine. Within the second it took for me to turn to face the thing, for lack of a better word, it had closed half the distance between us. It was still standing in that exact same ramrod stance I saw when I was staring at its reflection in the window. It was as if someone had picked it up like a cardboard figure and moved it to the middle of the street. I didn’t know what to make of it. Little by little I relaxed control of my telepathic and telekinetic powers but not enough to have them manifest. At least, not yet. I didn’t want to provoke it. I stared at its featureless face and dozens of thoughts and ideas came as fast as I discounted each one.

  I broke the silence. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  It made no attempts to move or say anything.

  “Do you understand me?”

  Again, no reply of any kind.

  I was tempted to probe its mind with my own but I wasn’t sensing any mental energies coming from it. That shouldn’t have been possible. Every creature I’ve encountered, whether human or animal, has some sort of consciousness all Shifters can sense. But whatever this was didn’t have any and that frightened me. This was the first time I’ve ever encountered, let alone heard of such a being. In my gut though I knew this thing was intelligent. It had appeared out of nowhere and it had chosen to do so when my back was turned to it. The creature had advanced in a span of a second without warning and made no attempts to open communication with me. While it was not openly hostile, it was clear these were actions of an aggressive nature. I glanced towards where I meant to go and slowly sidestepped towards that direction, making sure to keep the thing in my line of site. At first it didn’t follow me but after I had progressed a couple of steps its featureless face turned and started tracking me much like a security camera tracks a human being. But I didn’t stop, I couldn’t afford to. While still backing away and keeping an eye on it I peeked over my right shoulder and saw a cargo truck. I formulated a plan: the moment I passed the truck I would hide behind it and make my way around the ruins of the street undetected.

  I was about to break its line of sight when it disappeared in a flash of darkness. I felt a slight surge of wind and I turned fully around to see it again, facing me square and within a dozen feet away. I was on full alert now and my powers were on the sword’s edge waiting to be released.

  I asked one last question, a question I already knew the answer to. “Will you let me leave?”

  As if in answer to my question a sudden, violent jolt hit the forefront of my mind. It felt like a large, cold needle had been jammed into my brain at high speed. It made me stagger half a step but I put up my mental protections once I felt it try to force its way into my mind. The thing’s mental attack colliding with my telepathic shields must’ve harmed it because its torso bent back almost ninety degrees, its arms hanging low and swinging like slow pendulums.

  Seeing I had hurt it I took a chance to look around for any possible escape routes; I didn’t want to fight this thing unless I really had to. I now knew it was hostile but I didn’t know what its capabilities were. But before I could I could set my plan in motion the black figure straightened and hunched forward enough to dangle its arms. And for a moment it did nothing until I saw a thin line appear on the lower parts of its face, right where a mouth should be. My hackles rose as its maw widened into a wicked smile set full of jagged teeth that had no earthly design or sense to it. At first, there was only a single row of sharp teeth on both the upper and lower parts of its jaw, but with every blink the number of teeth and rows of teeth would change: one, two, dozens, it would fluctuate the longer I looked at it. It was like staring into an optical illusion. I saw that disgusting smile and I knew that it if let it, it would kill me. If I let it…

  I was memorized by what I was seeing and before I could make a move it did. Its mouth opened and the horrid sound that came out of it sounded like the moans of a thousand dying victims and the screams of Hell’s legions being unleashed at the same time. That’s when I felt its mind for the first time and I was disgusted with the energies that came from it. I didn’t attempt to read its thoughts but I felt the intent there: it wanted to devour me and absorb my powers. It knew what I was and it longed to rip my mind away from me and feast on my flesh.

  But there was no way I would let it happen. It leaned forward ready to dash but I was ready. I extended my left arm with my fingers spread apart and with it invisible, telekinetic threads attached themselves to a large mailbox which had tipped over long ago. Before my attacker could reach me I quickly brought my arm towards me and the mailbox flung itself at the creature. The box hit it square on and both it and my attacker hit the building hard enough to make a crater on the facade. I couldn’t afford to let up, so looking behind me I saw a large piece of concrete that had fallen from the overpass about the size of a compact car. I pointed at it and it shook. I peered over at the recess I had created and saw the mailbox move - the creature was sandwiched in but was trying to get out. I looked back at the concrete slab and lifted my arm high, with my palm up as if beckoning to God for intervention. The large block floated and stopped in midair just above my head. In
one quick motion I brought my arm forward like a pitcher at a baseball game and flung the slab at the creature slamming it into the building. The impact was hard enough to puncture the side of the building and reveal the darkened interior.

  From the street I peered into the hole but didn’t enter it. I didn’t want to further test my luck by meeting the creature face-to-face. Instead I sprinted away from the battleground towards where I was supposed to go. But as soon as I reached the next block of buildings I heard that terrible scream again. It was loud, loud and clear enough to be heard from such a distance. A cold shiver ran all along my spine but I couldn’t stop. I had to press on. But barely a few seconds passed before I heard another scream just like it a short distance to the east of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked in that direction. It wasn’t alone. And then I heard another scream to the north of me. This one was closer.

  I ran then. I ran hard and fast. Using a variation of the physical strengthening meme I enhanced my body to run faster than any normal person was capable of. I hoped it would get me as far away from these things as possible but I couldn’t sustain it indefinitely. As powerful as Shifters are, we have our limits. To expend as much psionic energies as I have so quickly would take time to recover. Time I didn’t have. I had to hide.

  I got off the main street the first chance I got and found myself turning a number of corners, hoping to escape my stalkers. I didn’t chance a look back out of fear they were right on top of me. I ended up in an alley with my backed pressed up against a small alcove hidden beneath the building’s shadow. I was breathing hard and I could see my breath in the cold air, like a piston releasing steam from an engine. I shut off my abilities to give my body a chance to recover. Not sensing anything around me I carefully pulled out my PDA and accessed the tracking display. I was only two blocks away.

  I opened my mind just the tiniest bit to see if any of the creatures were close. Not sensing the murderous intent I felt earlier I carefully made my out of the alley and onto a one-way street heading west. Carefully navigating the remaining two blocks and making sure to keep out of sight I reached the building where the tracking signal originated from. I studied the façade which was old, constructed from concrete and granite. And from the almost intact face of the building it had somehow avoided much of the terrible destruction the rest of the city had succumbed to. It would make sense why Barris would choose to hide here – if he was still alive.

  ********

  Making sure not to open the door too quickly I entered the darkness of the building. With enhanced sight I looked around to see if there was anything waiting for me. I kept my telekinetic powers at the ready and swept the room several times with my eyes until I was satisfied it was empty. Ahead was an impressive lobby with an equally impressive front desk with couches and chairs situated in the room. Behind the desk were four elevators, two on opposite sides. The building must’ve been an upscale apartment or hotel years ago. Before I could waste any time trying to conjure up the ghosts of the building’s past I made for the stairwell to the right of me. Once there I looked up into the stairwell and saw it led all the way up. Some parts of it were crumbling but not enough to hinder my progress. I took my time climbing the stairs, hoping my fears were unfounded.

  I reached the fourth floor landing but before I opened the door I scanned the area with my mind. I sensed nothing, neither Barris nor my stalker or his cohorts. I was relieved those things hadn’t followed me, but I was more distressed by what this meant for Barris’ friends and family back home. However, answers had to be found and there was no way to find them on this side of the door. So, I opened it and walked in.

  The dry creaking of wood welcomed me as I stepped onto the carpeted floor. Before venturing deeper I pulled out my PDA and accessed the map of this floor. It showed the tracker was located on the last room on the left and I put it away and made my way there. Even through my night vision I could see the dust that had accumulated throughout the years. There were cobwebs here and there but saw no signs of the creatures that had created them. Passing the middle of the hall there was a small vase on a pedestal still intact. The one flower it could hold had fallen apart long ago but a few desiccated petals remained. I wondered if one of the residents or the building’s caretakers had placed it there long ago.

  Upon checking the door I found the doorknob wouldn’t budge. Ethan Barris must’ve locked it before… With just a bit of effort I used telekinesis to manipulate the knob’s tumblers and unlocked it. I paused but a moment before I entered the room.

  Once, it must’ve been a quaint welcoming area for guests where they could settle their belongings. Nailed to the wall above was a coat hanger made of mahogany wood with six pegs. Just beyond this area was the dining room and kitchen area with a rectangular table and four chairs, one on each side. Venturing further I found myself in the living room, plainly adorned with a couch on one side flanked by armchairs. The flat-screen TV that was once on the center table in the living room had fallen to the ground and shards of broken glass were all over the carpeted floor. I glanced to the left and found a hallway, at the end of which I found a door that was ajar. Taking a breath I steeled myself and walked to the door, not bothering with the other rooms.

  Opening the door, I wished I had entered the wrong room or even the wrong building. I wished I was able to bring more than just Kari and her mother back with me. I wished the person lying on the bed was only sleeping, exhausted from having escaped the clutches of those dark things stalking the dead streets of the city. But it wasn’t meant to be.

  In the end, I did find Ethan Barris. His empty eyes welcomed me, the light of life having long since left this world for other places beyond. I didn’t know the man, but he had many friends back home and it broke my heart to have to tell them he had died doing his duty. His wife and son would have to know too. Moving closer to the bed I saw the wound that had killed him. His abdomen had a large stab wound and from the amount of blood that had dried out on the sheets he must’ve bled out. It shouldn’t have been possible because Shifters have an impressive healing factor that can heal certain major wounds. But thinking upon the creature I had met an hour ago and the abilities it had demonstrated, Barris must’ve expended all of his psychic gifts to fight countless numbers of those things. I noticed a photograph clutched in his left hand. It was a picture of him hugging his wife and son sitting atop a boulder on a green pasture.

  I knew that place. It was in Azure Field back home in Central. Closing my eyes, I relived the many lessons Bol Piles and I had while sitting on a boulder just like that one overlooking the large lake there. While I studied, Ol’ Bol would skip stones and lecture. Sometimes if I was stuck on a subject or wanted to take a break I’d join Bol to see if I could skip stones over the crystal blue water of the lake more times than him. I never was able to. I smiled at the memories. I wondered if Barris and his son spent time skipping stones on that lake while his wife looked on, smiling at the two people she loved most.

  As much as I hated to admit it, this part of my mission was over. Showing him the respect he deserved I reached behind his right ear and permanently disabled the tracking device with minor telekinesis. With great care I patted the coat he was wearing until I felt a hard flat object on the left side of his chest. I pulled out his PDA and put it aside for the time being. I then closed both his eyelids and straightened both his legs and torso. Seeing how hard he gripped the picture of his family I laid the hand holding the picture above his chest and his other hand over it.

  I’m not a religious man though many Shifters bring their own beliefs with them when they arrive at Central. I thought I had to say something. It took me a couple of minutes to think of a few fitting words but when I did, I placed my hand on top of Barris’ own, closed my eyes, and recited.

  “May you find peace in the place where all life came. May your loved ones find you there, with joy and light in their hearts. May your life continue on in the endless stream of time.”

  After
another moment of silence I removed my hand and opened my eyes. There was still Kari and her mother; I couldn’t let Barris’ death be meaningless. I had to find them and bring them back to Central. I took his PDA and looked for more information regarding Kari and her mother’s whereabouts. I was also hoping for anything on the dark things out there. Anything at all. I sat down on a chair and scrolled through the PDA until I found a lone audio recording, dated to several days ago. Only a couple of minutes long for Barris it must’ve felt like an eternity when he recorded it. Listening to it I heard the voice of a man resigned to his fate. There was no fear there, just brave acceptance. I also heard in his voice a determination, one that I can only hope I would have when it’s my time to go into the clearing. It was the determination to say one last goodbye to his wife and son.

  ********

  (faint static)

  (heavy breathing)

  I don’t know how long I have. I’m wounded, and I everything I had just to get away from it. From them. I hope Central got my report. I don’t think I can send another one. Hopefully, they’ll be able to find them. For the person who finds this, please let my wife and son know what happened to me. Let them know that I did my duty and I don’t regret anything. And you need to know: the thing that did this has a powerful and evil mind. And it’s not alone.