It took a while, but I finally was able to get a call through to Kal. I'm not sure why, but recently I seem to have been having trouble getting calls from people lately. Anyhow, we agreed on a place to meet. I left the girl with Ronnie and had my dagger hanging off my belt, hidden by my jacket. As I drove to the rendevouz (a Burger King not too far from campus), I noticed the streets become foggy – though it wasn’t enough to hinder my vision to register much beyond simply being a little odd. When I finally got to the meeting place, there was no one there but me. At first I thought Kal had simply decided not show. Had decided that there was no way he could spin his situation in a way that would convince he to help him. But then I saw him in the distance. It was hard to make out with the fog and the setting sun, but there he was, coming my way. I felt a wash of relief until I noticed him stop. Then I realized how tall he looked. How quiet it was there. How impossibly dead everything was. I don’t remember grabbing it, but I know my knife made its way to my hand – I didn’t even try to hide the blade.
I shouted at him. Why was he playing this game? The two of us needed to talk – and then suddenly he was, instead of a hundred feet away, fifty. I got no response other than that. I took a step back only to be matched by him taking a step forward. Then I saw the tie. Bright and red, obnoxious and enthralling. Kal doesn’t wear ties. He doesn't even own a tie. There was no way this fairy tale could be true. It had to be Kal, a friend of his, something, fucking with me. I shouted again. The light fog cleared around it and I got a clear look at that... thing. It had no face, but I could feel a terrible wave of heaviness coming from its stare; something like anger. It began moving closer – but it wasn’t walking. I felt as though I were watching a low budget clay-mation: it moved in short jumps forward,its absent eyes tearing through me.
I took another step back and fell, the rush of fear that followed punctuated by a hard landing. After that, everything seemed to speed up. And the thing was moving normally now – or as normally as it can do anything being what it is. Consumed with horror as I was, every nerve stretched to breaking and every muscle screaming to move, I couldn’t take my eyes from it as it came ever closer. Being at a loss of anything else to do, I slipped into meditation. Deep breathing first – and I could close my eyes. With that thing out of sight, I could direct my thoughts toward working as good a simple cleansing as I could. At this point, I was glad I had the dagger in my hand as a focus for will. I aimed only to enclose the area immediately around me, but it was sufficient. After moments that lasted agonizing eons, I felt my body come back under my control. I sprang to my feet, turned and ran back to my car, refusing to look back. As I turned the ignition, the fog began to melt away in my peripheral. I risked a glance back at where I had been frozen and saw a wisp of that haunting red color roll away as if on a wind. The sound of the world came back to me then. Kal still wasn’t there. We need to meet now more than ever. I know that really happened but... Fucking hell Kal, what did just happen?
Henry. I need you to take me completely serious right now. That thing you just saw... that was it.
ReplyDeleteI know that you don't believe it right now... that it's not completely real to you right now. It is. I need you to get back to Sara. You need to get back to her right now. Henry. This isn't a joke. This isn't a trick. Henry you need to get back to her.