War, p.9
War, page 9
part #2 of A Journey Through Hell Series
Chapter 13
Rockefeller Center, New York
Sitting there, staring into the blackness of whatever was before him, the entity released its finger from Mr. Williams’s shoulder. Taking a long, loud draw of breath, life returned to what had been nearly dead. The pain that coursed through the older man’s body finally ended, and he felt lucky to be alive.
Do as I say, Mr. Williams heard, knowing it came from the entity.
Searching it with his gaze, Mr. Williams saw no real features other than it appeared to look like a silhouette of a man with glowing, red-hot eyes. Wisps of darkness rose from it, which reminded him of solar flares escaping from the sun, except instead of being bright they were of the darkest black, like the depths of space. Swirling, they ascended then, without warning, banked downward, as if being sucked in, and disappeared back into the larger mass. The light surrounding the visitor appeared to fade and discolor, as if it were being consumed by the specter.
Do as I say, it commanded.
“Yes,” Mr. Williams said dryly.
The entity reached out its arm and touched Mr. Williams again, placing its hand on his chest, just above his heart. Tiny sparks formed inside the dark appendage, which slowly began to spin. At first, they were barely noticeable, but as they spun faster and faster the lights grew in intensity. The rest of the being kept its solid, black onyx color. The reflection of the swirling lights danced across the room, like that from a disco ball, and the air inside the room churned, causing the papers on the desk to slide off.
Using its other arm, the shadow figure reached out and placed its index finger above the pill bottle. An individual spark shot out from the swirling lights. It streaked across the demon’s chest, down its other arm, and exited the tip of its finger. Mr. Williams heard a clink as a tiny white pill bounced off the bottom of the plastic bottle. One by one, sparks launched across the darkness of the presence, filling the container. A few pills landed on the desk, spinning to a stop, while others rolled and fell to the floor.
Take every day or die, Mr. Williams heard.
“Take every day or die,” he repeated as he picked up a pill and placed it under his tongue.
The twirling lights inside the figure’s arm slowed. As they came to a stop, the sparks burned out and dissipated. Once they were gone, it removed its hand from Mr. Williams and stepped back.
The pounding in his head subsided as his blood pressure dropped, leaving him light-headed and woozy. Mr. Williams leaned back in his chair and, after a moment, the feeling passed. Sitting there, he noticed something different. It took a second to realize what it was, but then it hit: He felt great. Better than he had in years. Both the pain in his chest and his anxiety had disappeared. It was incredible; the fear, and the dread, of dying no longer existed.
Live for me and I will grant you immortality, the being said.
Looking at the shadowy form and staring into its molten eyes, Mr. Williams said, “I live for you.”
The entity moved around the room, and as it moved Mr. Williams heard the voice say, Electrician. Woman. Coming.
“There’s an electrician and a woman coming?” Mr. Williams asked.
Yes
“I take it the electrician is coming to fix our power problem?” the old man asked.
Yes
“I’ll let Chris know to let them in,” Mr. Williams said as he reached for the phone. When he looked back up, the form had vanished.
Getting up, Mr. Williams walked over to the window and looked out over the city. The sun warmed his face and he basked in it for a moment, glad to be alive. Whatever that thing was, he knew it had given him a new lease on life.
Glen finished unpacking and sat down at the vanity in his room. Gazing around, he was glad to finally be here and looked forward to getting back to work. Glimpsing himself in the mirror, Glen stared at his reflection. He looked like shit, and felt like it too. He felt the overwhelm wash over him as his mind went back to what had happened, and the things he’d seen, while making his journey here. Holding his hands up to his face, he wept, thankful to be alive. After a few moments, Glen composed himself. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he grabbed his toiletries and made his way into the bathroom to take a long, hot shower.
Chris returned to the control room after showing Glen to his suite. He had started reviewing the video news package that would accompany Glen’s opening monologue when something on the monitor for the back alley caught his attention. It appeared as if the sunlight had dimmed and night had fallen, yet all the other monitors around the building were displaying daylight.
“Isn’t that strange?” Chris asked out loud.
Just then the phone rang, startling him. Picking up the receiver, he held it to his ear.
“Has he arrived yet?” Mr. Williams asked, sounding back to his old self again.
“Yes, sir. He arrived a little while ago. I showed him to his room, and he is unpacking.”
“Good. I want to meet him as soon as possible,” the old man said.
“That’s good because he was asking to meet you.”
“Once he’s done unpacking, give him the code and send him up.”
“Yes sir,” Chris responded.
“Oh, and one other thing. There should be an electrician and a woman arriving soon. Tell the electrician what you told me regarding our power issue, and show the woman up to my suite when she arrives.”
“A woman?” Chris asked.
“Yes,” the old man said, then hung up.
Chris put the phone back in its cradle and looked back up at the monitor. The back alley was now pitch-black, and he wondered if the camera had malfunctioned. Pressing the power button, he hoped it would reset and fix whatever the problem was. Counting to ten, he pushed the button again. The monitor displayed the same darkness. Chris had stood up to go and manually inspect the camera when a flash on the screen caught his eye. Looking back at the monitor he watched the darkness fade, as if the sunlight was consuming it. He was transfixed on the darkness, which was constricting and disappearing like water down a drain.
Focusing on the black spot, Chris didn’t notice the beautiful woman standing in the alleyway. It took a few seconds for his mind to catch up, as if time had somehow slowed down— or even stopped.
Movement on the screen took him out of his daze, and it felt as though he had suddenly awakened from a deep sleep. The gears in his mind started turning. Grabbing his keys, Chris made his way toward the back door.
Chapter 14
Rockefeller Center, New York
Kendra was in shock. One moment her body was walking down a street on the outskirts of Orlando, and the next moment she was surrounded by skyscrapers. The temperature went from balmy to downright freezing and, although she couldn’t feel it, she could see her own breath. She couldn’t feel anything at all because everything she ever was, was now no more. Now, she was just mere consciousness, reduced to self-aware thoughts, capable of thinking but nothing more.
Her physical connection to the world was gone, severed and taken away by the needle. She no longer made assumptions about where she was, for now she knew. She had heard stories about this place before, from children she’d grown up with who went to Sunday School classes at the local Catholic church. She’d also seen it in a movie once, but this… this was real; her existence was trapped, confined to a place with no others, to pay for the sins of the flesh. This place, her cell, was where she always knew she’d end up. Welcome home, she thought. Welcome to purgatory.
Kendra’s body stood looking down an alley, at dozens of tall buildings dotting the horizon. It too was deserted and silent, just like Orlando had been. She heard the creak of a door, and her body started moving again.
The back door of the studio swung open, bathing the hallway in natural light. It took a second for Chris’s eyes to adjust to the sunlight, which felt good on his face, especially after being cooped up indoors for so long. My Lord! Chris thought as the stunningly beautiful woman stepped into view. She was slightly shorter than him, with a full head of luscious auburn hair and the most stunning emerald green eyes he had ever seen. Her skin was a pasty white, reminding him of the mother on the TV show The Munsters, which he used to watch as a child sitting in his grandfather’s lap.
“Hey, I’m Chris,” he said, his voice cracking like it did when he was a teenager.
Instantly, she noticed the man’s eyes staring at her chest, eyeing her up and down. Many women hated men ogling their breasts, but she’d never had a problem with it, especially given her line of work. Hell, she wouldn’t have worked as a stripper if she minded men staring at her.
But now it stung, and she knew what those women had felt. For the first time, it felt as if she was being seen, but not being seen, at the same time. Now, she realized what those women meant. Before she’d had control over men once they’d seen her, but now she had none. She was just a piece of meat to this man. Something he probably wanted to have his way with, and then discard like trash. To Kendra, it had always been about money and control. Now she had neither. All she had was herself, just like when she was a teenager and her stepfather and his friends had had their way with her. As she’d grown older, she learned to understand the dynamics of control and then flipped it, taking her life back. Yet now, like then, she no longer had control. She was a prisoner in her own body. Trapped in her own head.
“Down the hall and to the right,” Chris said, watching the woman’s backside. Closing the door, he slid the deadbolt and scurried after her. As she turned the corner, he glimpsed her side profile and stared at the curve of her breasts. They looked amazing, and he thought back to the last time he’d seen a nice rack.
Bethany immediately popped into his head, and his excitement rapidly diminished. She was the sexy news anchor who’d used her looks to her advantage. It was an added bonus for the male viewers, as Bethany was a winning trifecta: intelligent, sexy, and talented. Using her charm, she could get a story out of anyone who was reluctant and did not want to be interviewed. She’d also died at the news desk, live on TV. Recalling watching her die of the sickness, then having to scrub her blood off the anchor’s desk, really took the wind out of his sails.
Mr. Williams had just finished introducing himself to Glen, when Glen caught sight of Kendra and froze in place, his mouth gaping open, staring at her with immediate lust.
Seeing the look on Glen’s face, Mr. Williams turned and damn near had another heart attack. Thankfully, he’d gotten a fresh supply of pills because, if not, his heart wouldn’t have survived the excitement he felt in that moment at the sight of the woman. She really got his blood flowing.
It had been months since either of them had seen a woman, never mind one as sexy as the one before them now.
A smile appeared on Glen’s face as he looked her over from top to bottom. Kendra’s auburn hair hung over her shoulders, and his eyes followed the contours of her body. The natural formation of her hips led his eyes to her pubic region, which looked very enticing in her skintight black leggings, and he was instantly aroused.
“Our friend said to expect a woman, but by God, I wasn’t expecting anything like her,” the old man said, adjusting his tie.
Chris circled around the room, never taking his eyes off Kendra, as he stood next to Glen and Mr. Williams.
Kendra watched as the three men stared and ogled her body.
Even though physically trapped, her mind still worked, and she sized up the men standing before her. The brown, shaggy-haired one— who let her in— was one of those men she knew she could control and bend to her will. Years of working at the strip club had provided her with a keen sense on how to read a man. The other one, the short-haired blond one, dressed in the expensive suit, exuded charm and charisma, and was clearly the type who knew what he wanted: sex. She could read the telltale signs of a ladies’ man a mile away, and he fit the bill. A living definition.
The old man stood there, staring, his mouth open like some dumb fish. Believe it or not, she had seen a lot of men like him back in the strip club. Rich men who lacked personality and who usually had a small prick; hence why, in life, they lived large, literally trying to make up for their shortcomings.
The dark thing appeared next to her and placed its hand on her back. She felt pain, like an electrical shock. Even in her little prison, she felt it. It was the first thing she’d felt since the day the darkness had enveloped her. Reminding her that she was still cognizant and alive, the pain waned to a dull numbness. Either way, it reminded her that she was in hell. Living hell.
She tried slapping herself in the face, wanting to wake herself out of this nightmare. As the pain coursed through her, what was left of her anyway, her hand shot up and she succeeded.
The dark thing pressed harder, intensifying the pain, and she screamed internally.
She watched as the well-dressed man sauntered over, a whimsical charm about him. That smug, I-can-have-any-woman-I-want bravado. If she had control over her own body, she would have put him to shame. She saw him for who he was and what he was—weak. To him, women were a conquest. She’d seen it a million times: Men trying to prove something with their dicks. She knew all men weren’t that way, just as all women weren’t sluts like her. It was a choice. Something she now regretted. Something that had been forged from abuse. She had taken control of what others used to take from her; and she didn’t do it because she had to, but because she wanted to. It was her escape mechanism. It was her taking back her life.
She felt the numbness coursing through her for a brief time, allowing her a sliver of control. If she was able to feel again, could life come back to her body? Kendra realized when the thing touched her that she may be able to regain control.
Her body seemed like it was working from muscle memory because she could tell it had just leaned against the doorframe. Looking down, she watched as her arms crossed underneath her bosom and lifted up her tits. Then her body slid to the right and slightly bent as she moved, exposing her cleavage.
“Hey, Glen,” said a cold, sexy voice.
It took her a second to realize it was her own voice speaking. It sounded weird, like when you heard yourself on a recording or in a video. That constant conversation she’d been having with herself, while trapped inside her head, did not accompany a voice. Hearing her own voice, while not speaking, was hard for her to understand. It took her a second to realize that the evil thing was using the numbness to control her. Was there anything it could not control?
The woman brought her index finger up to her mouth, gently sucking on it.
Glen was frozen by her sexual lure and prowess. Pulling her moist finger out of her mouth, she slowly reached out and pressed it against Glen’s lips, then slowly started circling his lips with the tip of her finger.
“Do you like?” she asked.
“Yes,” Glen said, starting to feel excited.
Mr. Williams was focusing on her chest, and Glen noticed her supple nipples poking through the thin material of her shirt. “What a beauty It has bestowed upon us,” he said, just above a whisper.
Looking out of the corner of his eye at the old man, Chris wondered who the “It” was. Then he noticed his boss was licking his own lips and that the older man’s hand was moving inside his pants pocket.
Disgusting, Chris thought. I’m better suited to be with her instead of blondie there, or Mr. Old crusty over here, he added, adjusting his trousers and trying to hide his own semi-erection.
Kendra felt the numbness turn to tingles, followed by a strong electrical current coursing throughout her body as the entity behind her applied more pressure to her back. Inside her head, it sounded like TV static that had been turned all the way up. It cut right through her, drowning out her voice inside her prison cell. The sound was incredibly annoying, and prohibited her from thinking. It felt like she was being bounced from wall to wall inside her tomb, robbed of her ability to focus.
Kendra clung to nothingness, hoping it would end soon, which it did.
When it finally stopped, and she had her thoughts back, she looked out of her eyes and saw the blond-haired man leading her down the hall and into a bedroom, closing the door behind them.
Chapter 15
Harlem, New York
In pain, Peter sat watching as small, entrail-like tubes snaked toward him from the dark entity. Eyes wide, Peter noticed tiny dots of light starting to swirl around inside its appendages. He watched with bated breath as one of the protuberances headed straight for him; one brushed up against his knee, and an immediate numbness ran down his leg. It continued making its way around his waist, heading for the plastic zip tie cuffing his hands together. The demon’s eyes grew with intensity, and a bright light streaked through the appendage. As it shot through the tube-like limb, Peter noticed the light had a tail, reminding him of a comet or shooting star, and the way it streaks across the night sky.
Peter sighed in relief, his hands now untied. Rubbing the red indentations on his wrist, Peter looked up at the entity before him. The other tubular appendage slowly rose into the air, looking like a King Cobra prepared to strike— which it did. With impeccable speed, it shot straight at Peter’s head, striking and attaching itself to his left temple.
Hello Peter, Peter heard inside his head. I have let you live, and now I need you to help me.
There was a sharp, stinging pain where the tentacle-like thing attached to his head.
Don’t, Peter heard inside his head as he thought of reaching up and tearing it off, followed by a burning pain that coursed throughout his body.
