Chapter 8: Memories
Daylight emerges...
Where did the crazy man go? Lifting myself off the floor, a black substance drips from above causing me to freeze in horror.
Black blood starts to seep back into the corpse...
No, no this can't be happening. My hand wanders towards my nose cautiously. Looking back, my fingers are black and sticky. My body begins to shake and I remember how I was back in the office. How I was in the dream. My blood was red. No this can't be right.
It's only a matter of time...
Kill us all...
The voices replay in my head.
"Shut up! JUST SHUT UP!" I clasp and pull my ears to make it stop.
You can't fight it...
Help me Matt...
"Why is it so hard to breathe? What's wrong with the air?" I gasp.
Then it stops. The voices, the screaming it just disappears. And I'm alone again on the balcony with the blinding sun burning my eyes.
"Maaaatttttt-" A voice calls from below. Sweat beads at the top of my head. They're coming for me. Quickly wiping the blood away I make my way downstairs. They can't know now. They can't know. What's going on?
"MATT!"
No this isn't real.
+ J.D. and Harry wait for me at the bottom of the stairs, their expressions in a state of confusion.
"What are you doin' up there?" J.D. asks. "We gotta go fix the van."
"I..." I don't know what to say. How can I explain what had happened? I don't even believe it now.
"We don't have time for curiosity, man. We gotta go." Leading me outside Harry stares at my face curiously.
"You're bleeding." He points out.
"I fell. It's nothing." I quickly answer rushing to catch up with J.D. and leaving Harry behind.
Leading me around the church next to the graveyard, we make our way towards a dented, blue van with two people underneath it, coated in black. What are they doing, I think.
"Hey Frank, how's it look so far?" Harry asks. Pulling himself out from underneath the car, he pulls off his glasses leaving him looking like a raccoon. I give a slight chuckle. Luckily, no one heard it.
"Well, we still need those tires."
"Got it,"
"And we still need to find more gas to get it across the bridge."
"Alright, I'll get some of the others to go with me to pick it up. You stay here and work on the car."
"Guess I'm ahead then."
"Grab a couple of bags and get Smith and Lisa to follow us to the gas station." He tells J.D. and me.
"Alright, come on." I follow J.D. back to the graveyard where a woman and a man sit and load empty handguns.
"About time you showed up." To my surprise, there were two women. I guess I got confused because her hair was so short. Or was it her jacket? Feeling stupid, I shut myself up.
"Come on, we've got to go get more gas."
"Now?" She sounds shocked. "We just got some yesterday!"
"Well we still need more, sis. So I recommend that you get off your ass and help." With a threatening look etched on her face, she gets up and throws the gun to the floor.
"This blows!" She shouts picking up her bag.
"That's Lisa for you." J.D. gazes back towards me with a foolish smile. My eyes open a little wider. To think she would be Smith. The other woman smiles at me shyly and looks towards the ground as she follows Lisa.
We meet Harry and head out through the graveyard. It's strange to see so many dead people in one place. I'm glad it's here and not out on the streets. As if you can handle either, look at you you are already starting to shake! It's back. Looking at the tombstones, trying to think of something else, anything to ignore it a familiar name catches my eye. I wander to one of the headstones. To my disappointment, it reads Middin, not Midnigh. Oh well...
"Matty," A voice breaks my disappointment into a fearsome shiver. Slowly I turn to face the same demonic little girl. She smiles in a disturbing matter. It soon fades.
"You'd better listen to daddy. Jack said he's gonna be mad if you try to run away again." She warns with a stern face.
"J-jack," I ask backing away. "-who is...Jack?"
"Daddy wants you to come home."
"What...?" What was going on? Why do I suddenly feel so drained? My arms feel numb, and my feet are pulsing.
"Daddy can make you all better, Matty. He can fix it. All the bad stuff goes away if you let him in."
I shutter in fright but quickly make out the words,
"No," She smiles again. Her petite hand locks out the rest of my words before I can choke them out. It's like a wrench clung against my throat. Her eyes burn a deep, incensed red.
Flinging me to the floor, I start to cough violently. Black blood piddles from my mouth onto the ground.
"You're making this harder, Matty. Don't you love us anymore?" She questions pacing around me as I suffer. "Why don't you love Daddy?"
Lifting my heavy head off the ground, she soon crushes me down with her small foot.
"Don't you wanna play with me?"
Deep within me something snaps. I can't take this anymore.
This little brat is smashing my ear and this stupid man won't leave me alone! My eye giving a starting twitch I grab her by the ankle, blind with fury, and hurl her towards a statue. She springs back quickly with her fist determined to make me bleed. Instinctively tilting my head to the side, she misses, colliding with the mount of rock. Cracking my neck, my rage loosens and I come to my senses. Unfortunately, this rush made her think I was playing her game. Lifting her bloody head, she gives a frightening grin.
"Shit," I whisper running for the safety of the others. Glancing back with every turn I can see her walking with no effort, but somehow gaining in on me. I pick up the pace and collide with the back of Lisa. We fall to the ground and land on some dead leaves.
"Get the f- OFF ME!" She shouts shoving me off. Confused I swerve around to find the demonic girl. To my luck, she's gone. Now I look even crazier.
"What in God's name happened?" Harry asks. Bowing my head in embarrassment, I whisper.
"A-a girl..."
"A girl you mean a little girl?" J.D. answers.
"Ha-ha," Lisa sarcastically says. "What exactly is this guy's problem?"
"She wasn't human!" I add with emphasis. They all look at me in surprise. J.D. bites his thumb. Smith gasps. Lisa curses.
"Calm down everyone!" Harry shouts. Maybe it's the same guy. He's pulled off crazier shit than this!"
"And what if it isn't?" Lisa butts in. "What if there's another one? Then we're really screwed!"
"Look if there really was another one we all would have seen it. Matt's just having some trouble getting used to this."
"But I really-" I argue.
"Matt we should really get going. Come on." He offers a hand to me. Lifting me up, I feel heavier than ever. I trail behind the rest of the group feeling confused. Was I really just seeing things? Maybe it was just like the voice in my head. Then why did it feel so real? J.D. taps me on the shoulder.
"I believe what you saw back there. Here," He offers me one of the guns. "Aim for the eyes when you get the chance."
"No it's alright I already-" Reaching my pocket for the handgun from my house I panic when I find that my pocket is empty.
"Take it you'll need it."
"Thanks," I shakily take it in my trembling hands. Catching up with the others, I watch as he cleverly blends in. Looking back at the church around the children's dorms the flash of two blood red orbs causes me to tremble.
Sometimes I wonder if this Fatherly sense is getting too old for my tastes. No, this is nothing of the sort. I am simply trying to convince the boy. This is not love. I will not allow myself to sink to such a low standard of thinking. Closing the file on the screen, I click to another folder, one containing different viruses I have created over the years. I've wanted to test them on human subjects for quite some time. Now that I have enough, I can begin the second part of the project. However, I must finish His part of the assignment. The Third is not yet developed and the First is in my control. I despise impatiency but I hate half-finished tasks even more. Typing away at my reports for this afternoon a sudden realization comes over me. He loved her. Now she is gone. The girl, from before I even came into his existence. I ponder the thought for a moment. How did she die? From his memories, I ironically never came to know. Perhaps it will come again when I have my son. This one seems to interest me more only because he is the first that has succeeded with the bodily mutation. He apparently has not figured out how to control it yet, but it will come. A knock on the door surprises me and in walks Nathan, blood splattered all over his clothes.
"It is done." I turn back to my work and pause.
"Do you remember anything from before the re-incarnation?" I ask suddenly. It's more likely he will know, after all he is the eldest. A couple of minutes pass before he answers me.
"There were three of us. Eastern Germany. A Father only, the mother died long ago."
"Tell me what happened to her."
"I don't remember that part. I believe he hid it from us. Only so we wouldn't suffer the same fate as he."
"He doesn't seem to have it in his memory."
"Maybe later on when I've drunken more I will remember. It might clear my head."
"Blood does not clean and cannot be cleaned, my boy." Gazing into his red eyes, he shutters and bows his head.
"I apologize, Father." In his words, I question myself why I wanted to know so badly. Perhaps his feelings still lurk within this battered old body. No, it was only to my curiosity to how she died. It was no important matter needed.
"Leave me be." I order him out of my office. In an instant, his image vanishes. Looking back at the flashing screen another memory comes to mind. Maybe it's the words I've always known to be our fate. This song is just another dream, perhaps. Then again, if it is then why can I hear it so clearly?
What is the water we drink
from the fountain of youth
in order to survive?
What is the fragrance
the rose we breathe
that feeds the soul and mind?
What is the curse
the stain in scoff
even in wash it will not come off?
"Oh, Helena, why can I still hear your accursed voice every time this plays in my head?" I shout to the ghost. Stitching a grin across my face her silence makes it all worthwhile. "You can't have him now. He is mine. They all are. Soon enough you will be too. You think the damned cannot conquer the dead, hmm." The little red dots flash on the green screen next to me. "But oh my dear I already have."
Nothing is nothing is nothing is mine.
+ I hold the gun firmly in my anxious grip as we head down the hill. The crunch of dead leaves and kicking of gravel reside in Lisa's part, aimed towards me still in anger. I couldn't see the point in her keeping that grudge. It was, after all, an accident. But then again the world isn't exactly sunshine and daises right now. I'll just try to steer clear of her until we get back. Suddenly, J.D. stops raising his hand, blocking out the gleaming sun to see.
"I found the shop! It's only a couple of feet away." He swings his arm to lead us forward. The trees begin to part away and reveal a clearing. In the distance lies a fenced shack. Mountains of rusted parts scatter the ground. Strangely, the air isn't filled with the stench of exhaust or oil as I was expecting. The field surrounding the garage is dead, cut short, and stained a puss yellow. Or was that just because of Autumn? Walking towards the building, Lisa readies herself with her gun. Just looking at her holding it makes me squirm. Once at the gate Harry shouts out.
"Lisa!"
"Got it-" She aims for the gate's lock and a spark erupts from the thin, broken chain. Flinching at the erupting spark at the end of the delicate chain, we all head inside. Flies buzz around the occasional pool of gunk. Several rusted cars lie atop one another, dismembered for parts. The door to the shack is missing, and J.D. welcomes himself as if it were just another day.
"Hey, Matt! Can you help me over here?" Harry calls lifting three partly filled containers of gas. He shoves them in my pack and I nearly fall to the ground. They were heavier than they looked.
"Whoa don't fall! We need that stink juice." Steadying myself, I wander away from him rummaging through the broken automobiles, and head towards the garage. The sudden shriek of metal against metal cautions me back. Then I remember the dream. Those people dragging that man down that hallway. And the maddening laughter coming from only one.
Who are you, Ezekiel? I ask myself as I draw closer. Slowly making my way into the garage to my relief it's only Smith and J.D. unloading tires from a stable car held on a large machine. I speak lowly.
"We found some fuel."
"Alright kiddies, homework's done. Just need to carry this home." J.D. adds enthusiastically. The tire falls into Lisa's hands and soon enough to the floor. Her hand then reaches for her gun.
"Liz what are you do-"
"Quiet and listen!" She interrupts him. We let in on her mission. At first, there's nothing but the wind. Faintly something scurries past bits of metal and wood.
"We're not alone." She heads towards the mysterious noise. Following shortly behind I keep a look out for our uninvited guest. The shatter of glass leads us all towards a dark alley within the garage's edge. The chuckle of a familiar voice echoes within the darkness. To my horror, the light soon shines dimly on his bloodstained, twisted face. I can barely make out the words as he crawls closer.
"...ALEX?"