Ascent, p.13
Ascent, page 13
part #2 of The Lit Series Series
Noah nodded “Hmmm… I hope so. W-w-we are counting on it.”
“Well how many more am I meeting?”
“For now, one more.” Chelamah replied walking down the path between the trees. “But this one’s hard work. To meet Mika, you have to impress Jason.”
“He's a bitch” Noah stated coldly as Sam chuckled nervously, following their lead into the trees. “I’m the asshole."
“Wow, I'm sold on Jason… Not you!” Sam looked at Noah smirking.
Chapter 10
Joshua's excitement was cut short by two talkative police officers walking through his curtain. He had only just pulled his track pants on when Aunt Casey led them in, sat down and started talking baby talk with him. Why did they do that? He wasn't five, he was nearly nine.
They asked him the same questions again. When did he last see his Mum?
She was being ripped apart in a big room with monsters crawling around.
What did she say to him the last time she saw him?
She told Ellie to take me away from the scary things.
And Ron?
He was being eaten alive on the floor of my house by a big dog. He begged me to make the dog stop chewing him.
They didn't ask about Jamie.
His eyes had popped, and he was cooking on the roof whilst smoke came out of him. He wasn't talking, just screaming, and making gurgling noises.
No-one ever seemed to like Jamie much. Maybe no-one missed him?
But Josh's answer remained the same. They went out in the evening after drinking a lot and didn't come home. The bucket was still there on the porch. Empty alcohol containers were strewn throughout the house. Most left by Mum and Ron, but some spread strategically by himself and Ellie. Ellie even left Jamie's little glass steaming pipe on the kitchen table.
Casey sat beside him watching him answer the questions. Josh thought she might be mad, maybe… worried? The police asked him about all his bruises and cuts. He replied simply that he was clumsy, and Mum called him a clumsy clog all the time. Casey took his hand, so perhaps she wasn't angry after all. He could tell she wanted to say something, and she was finding it hard not to. He was glad she wasn't asking him things. He would have felt really bad lying to Casey.
Every now and then he would startle. He felt silly. The police just kept talking but they noticed. First time it happened the man asked, “Are you OK?” He was OK. But the dog was making short snorty growling noises on the other side of the curtain. Sharp and loud. It made him jump. It did this often when people were around. The more Josh interacted, the closer it moved to him. Ellie had said that's because it could feel Josh getting emotional and he might feed it people. The dog was waiting for more people to put on the wall. These people had guns though… maybe if they did get all Lit up, they could shoot the dog?
“So young man, the doctor said you can go today. Your aunt is taking you home,” the policeman said, distracting Josh from his thoughts.
“My house is too messy,” Josh said, his eyes dropping, wringing his hands. Casey held his arm gently.
“No honey, you’re coming to my house” she said softly.
This was not what he wanted. He wanted them all to go away, leave him alone. Ellie was coming. She was coming, and they were going to leave. He didn't want to go to his aunt's house or anywhere else. He wanted to go with his friend. A glob of vomit rose in his throat. His stomach hurt. This wasn't meant to happen. He didn't want to go anywhere but with Ellie. It was hopeless.
Sam looked ahead with trepidation. The path disappearing behind them and becoming less clear before them. His low-level tension had become low level fear. He told himself not to be stupid. He knew Chelamah… but did he really? They had met a handful of times, and each time she had been as cryptic as the last and now here he was, following her and some really big dude into the bushes. In past moments such as these, he'd told himself that he was protected, as much as this made him feel like a fucked-up person, it was true. And even though this man leading him through the bushes possessed, in some form or another, the same curse as he did, for the first time in his life the effectiveness of his dark child was unclear.
Suddenly, stepping through a curtain of wet foliage, Sam found himself walking into a small clearing. Between the banks of a crevice, stood an odd concrete structure. A large moss-covered dome sat impressively camouflaged within the growth. Covered with all that vegetation it was hard for Sam to know how far back it actually went. It appeared to be partially buried, or built, into the landscape, deeply hidden.
Sam had heard about the World War II bunkers scattered about Marshblerie. It made sense, being so close to the site of the old fort. First intrigued and then anxious, he stared at the heavy metal door to the underground chamber. His fear peaked when Noah grabbed the steel door. As the door opened, the sound of grinding metal echoed through the woods. Subtle.
“What's in there?” Sam asked, taking a step backwards.
“Come on in,” Noah beckoned. “It’s safe. Mostly… perhaps.”
Sam looked at Chelamah who also stood back. She had noticed Sam's increasing anxiety. Sam had also noticed that Noah, for whatever reason, was being a lot more brazen than Chelamah had been up to this point. Perhaps he didn't have to worry so much about the consequences of pissing Sam off.
Glancing to the left he saw the Child beside him, her body bent over as if in a bow, her face stared dead ahead at the doorway before them.
Chelamah noticed his apprehension. “It’s OK. I wouldn't have bought you here if you were in danger.”
Sam nodded, “Yeah but that's what you would say if I was in danger.”
With a blast of frustration, Noah sighed. “Bro, I don't wanna hurt you as much as you don't wanna hurt me. I’m not keen on creating some shit here because we don’t know how it will end… and I simply can’t be fucked right now. What are we going to do? Shoot you? Kill you? You know it's not that easy. We wouldn't be the first to have tried. Am I right? I could get pissed at you and really shoot myself in the ass. I'm tired and I slept on the floor so can we just go in?”
“Noah it’s OK,” Chelamah interrupted. Noah ignored her.
“You are a fucking Ascendant bro. Chel can sense it. She told me what is with you, or ‘who’, or whatever, and… I simply don't wanna go to war today.”
Sam was taken aback, he turned to Chelamah. “You can see her?”
“I’m an Underling, but Chel’s a Devotee. That's what HE calls me. Devotees can feel what you are… in their guts… right here.” He put a fist to his stomach. “Chelamah couldn't hurt you even if she wanted to and I’d more than likely get my ass handed to me. So calm the f-f-fuck down and come through this door… I’m f-f-freezing.” Noah gestured to the opening impatiently.
It shocked Sam. Noah's candour was refreshing. Brash, open with no bullshit agenda or cryptic rubbish. He was clear and in your face. Like Ellie, only more verbose. To his surprise it didn't make him angry. It made him calm. It made him want to trust the man. He knew exactly where he stood and for reasons that made him trustworthy.
“OK,” Sam nodded slowly. “OK, let's go in.”
With that, Noah strode through the open-door leaving Sam and Chelamah to stand quietly alone.
“Wow,” Sam muttered in astonishment. “He's colourful.”
Chelamah smiled wearily. “He doesn't know you… Give him time. He's scared of you.”
“Scared? Why is he scared?” Sam mused at the six-foot seven guy, whose arms were bigger than Sam's neck, being scared of him.
“Because he should be. Ascendants are… risky for everyone including us. Come with me. He’ll be OK.” She followed Noah in. With an anxious exhale, Sam pulled out his phone and typed with millennial efficiently, before reluctantly walking through the door.
Joshua sat in the hospital toilet. Sadly, he looked at the door. They would be wanting him to come out in a minute. He couldn't stay in here for long, but it had been enough time to quickly read Ellie’s message:
I AM HERE
His battery said 1%. He hadn't had the chance to search the bag for his charger. It didn't matter. He was surrounded by people now and couldn't do anything. He couldn't go with Ellie. He knew this. He was so scared. So many people in this place and so many questions he had answered with so many lies. His world seemed so strange. Only with Ellie did anything make any sense in this new life. He was going to go with his aunt and her husband, a man called Nate. He hadn't met him yet, but the thought terrified him. More people he didn't know.
He heard his name called through the door. “Josh, honey, are you OK?”
He was OK. OK-ish. Wistfully, he put his phone in his pocket and stood up. Flushing the toilet he hadn't used, he called out “coming,” as he walked to the sink and turned the tap on. Josh watched the water run for three seconds and then turned it off. Lies, he thought, were not just words. Turning around, he opened the door.
His aunt was talking to him as she led him down the shiny floor of the hospital and out a big sliding door. This place had so many doors. It was like Ellie’s spooky man. His big, horrible building had doors everywhere.
“Hey,” Casey said to him, giving him a nudge. “It's OK, we’re going home.”
Josh faked a small smile. That was what she wanted. Walking across the foyer to the entrance where the ambulances were parked, he heard someone call out. Turning, Casey had noticed a doctor he had seen before trotting up to them. Casey and the doctor began to talk. He had papers in his hands, and they were talking about him going back to get his arms dressed.
He looked up at the talking adults, feeling very small. Casey placed a hand on his head and gently stroked his hair just once, before continuing the conversation. Josh looked about. So many strange looking people. Some looked really well. Others looked really sick. Some were in wheelchairs or walked with strange metal frames in front of them like his grandma used to. It was then that he noticed Ellie.
Dressed in her black coat and beanie she stood over on the other side of the room. She noticed him looking and smiled. He was overcome with relief and excitement. She was here. They were in the same place. It had seemed so long, and he had so much to tell her. His fingers fidgeted wildly, as he looked up at the two talking adults and then back to Ellie again who was gone. His heart sank. Where was she?
Slowly at first, he moved away from the talking adults. Merely two paces later, his legs broke into an unstoppable sprint. He rounded the corner and they collided.
“Ellie! Ellie!” he grabbed her coat, pulling her to him. “Ellie we got to go!”
Ellie held him back, dropping to one knee. “No, no, we can’t. It's alright, you're alright.”
“I'm not alright! The dog came and did stuff to people and then they saw me all weird,” his eyes filled with tears. “They brought me here and called my aunt, but they keep asking me questions… they keep asking me things all the time about my cuts and stuff. I told them what you told me to say. We need to run away, now!”
Ellie looked into his eyes, eyes that contained such deep sadness and desperation. This was impossible. It would lead to devastation, something he didn’t understand, not yet. In his mind he needed, and deserved, to be somewhere he felt safe – preferably with her – and yet he couldn’t comprehend why that was just impossible.
“It’s OK. They will take you home, remember? We spoke about this. I am here, I found you and I will find you again, but we can't…”
“We have to run now!” he shouted. The air turned thick. “They are taking me away Ellie!”
Josh was aware that the dog had arrived behind him. He heard a snarl in his ears. He heard the scraping of its knife-like claws on the hard floor, but he didn’t care.
Ellie saw Bael slam his foot down beside her and lean forward menacingly. The two conduits looked into each other's eyes. She could see the defiance growing in Josh’s stare with each passing second. She squeezed his hands tight.
“I don't want to go,” Josh muttered, his eyes turned strangely cold and distant. “They can't make me go.”
Quietly, Ellie held his hands, her eyes burning into his. Thinking, she cast her eyes to the floor, consciously relaxed her grip on his hands into a gentle grasp.
They can't make me go.
These words were adversarial and threatening. Ellie gripped his hands tighter, shaking her head slowly. What did this mean? No, they couldn't make him go. He could very well make them ‘go’. She hoped it was purely semantics and not Josh legitimately recognising the power he had.
“No. You're right,” Ellie nodded. “They can’t. But you don't want to hurt anyone do you?”
She could see the wheels of Josh’s brain turning. Fear and vulnerability were driving him towards self-protection.
“Calm down for me. Wiggle your fingers.”
“I can't,” he replied.
“Why?”
“You're holding them” he sighed then smiled.
Ellie gave a small chuckle of relief. She let his hands go as Josh began opening and closing them slowly.
“You have your phone. You tell me where you've gone, and I will be there. But we don’t hurt people. It's not what we do. Remember… why don't we do it?”
“...because we are not like them.” Josh gave a small nod. “Not like the stupid dog and the stinky tall man.”
Ellie nodded. “Not at all like them.”
“Or like the idiot little bitch troll,” Josh whispered,
“Who said that?”
“Sam did. He said she was an idiot bitch troll from hell who deserved a pole up her ass.”
Ellie gave a short titter. Sam, seriously.
“Of course he did. OK, yes. Or like the idiot little....”
“Bitch troll from hell” Josh finished her sentence.
“Bitch troll from hell…Yes, I got it.” She nodded, hiding her chuckle.
“And… she deserves…”
“Yes, I know what it deserves, it's cool…” Ellie pulled him closer. “Go now. Relax and don't worry. I will see you soon.”
“OK” Josh nodded. Hesitating for a second, he wrapped his arms around Ellie, squeezed tight and then ran back around the corner.
Ellie quickly stood back up and walked towards the entrance. Turning the corner, she passed Josh and his worried aunt. He told her he was in the toilet again. Ellie left the bright lights of the hospital and walked alone into the overcast morning. She would just keep walking and not look back. He was safe… for now. Perhaps she could rest. Her eyes were heavy, and her feet were burning. She needed to eat, shower and rest. A calmness overcame her. A feeling that, for now, all was OK. All was well. A feeling she had not had for quite some weeks.
Ellie placed her headphones over her ears and pulled out her phone, staring at what appeared to be a text notification. She sighed tiredly. It was from Sam. The screen lit up to a location pin. Underneath it was written:
IF I GO MISSING, I WAS HERE
SAM
Exhausted, Ellie rubbed her tired eyes and sighed, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Sam descended the final step of the entrance. The dust stung his eyes. A disorientating wave ran through his body, a rush of nausea that caused him to gag. The childish squeal of the Dark Child resonated in his ears and then slowly faded to silence. The vertigo stopped. Nerves, he thought, pure anxiety. Taking a deep breath, he continued to follow Chelamah and Noah, peering into a large, murky hall with a curved dome roof. Ribbed steel supports eaten by rust stretched above him and ran the entire length of the roof. Archaic and interesting.
There was a flicker of light as Noah lit a candle at the far end of the bunker. “Is that for atmosphere?” Sam asked with nervous sarcasm.
“No, it's so we can see!” Noah snapped back, turning to Chelamah, rolling his eyes.
“Nothing electrical works here. No torches, batteries, anything,” Chelamah explained, walking into the darkness. “Check your phone.”
Intrigued, Sam took his phone from his pocket and tapped it. Sure enough, the screen was dead.
Chelamah reassured him, “Don’t worry, once you go up those stairs it comes back. But not down here.”
Sam found himself gravitating towards Noah and the candle. He noticed this with embarrassment. Like a moth to a flame. There was something unnerving about this place. Its darkness, its smell, but even more so the sense of something else you couldn’t see. Even the slightest sound seemed exaggerated. Sam looked about with a sense of unease and the fear of possible danger. There were no windows and the large concrete dome felt like it was burying them, closing in, weighing more heavily above them the further they ventured in.
“Why are we here?” he asked, attempting to hide the low-level panic in his voice. He glanced quickly behind him, noting the direction of the stairs he had just descended.
“Chel?” Noah gestured towards her. The rims of her glasses flickered in the candlelight.
“Why are we here? What is this place?” Sam repeated impatiently. “I don’t understand. Why doesn’t anything work?” He played with his phone again as he watched Chelamah.
She turned toward him. “That’s not the only thing that doesn’t work here. Notice something? Anything?”
What did she mean? He had bought nothing else with him but his phone. Sam was unsure of the point of the question. He cocked his head to the side. He was about to answer, and only then noticed the silence. Absolute silence. No strange reverberations, no echoes, no songs. No eerie, distorted nursery rhymes wafted around him. Just… silence. Agitated, he spun around on the spot, scanning the shadows and corners. The roof? He looked up, he looked down, behind him… he looked everywhere, and then turned, stunned, to his companions, eyes wide, mouth open in surprise, “What the hell… what the absolute hell. Where?”
