“Ouch be careful!”
Salem grimaced as she studied John’s finger.
“Man it’s really wedged in there.”
“Really,” said John in mock surprise, “I was under the impression it was just resting on top.”
Giving him a raised eyebrow Salem pulled out her nail kit.
“That splinter is really wedged in there. I’m probably going to have to cut the skin open a little.”
John blew out his breath as he looked at the splinter jammed into his index finger.
“Don’t sugar coat it at all.”
“It’ll hurt a little and bleed a bit, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”
“That’s better.”
She smiled as she fished out a pair of tweezers from her nail kit. Frowning she looked down at the splinter in his finger.
“Was the wood dirty at all?”
John shook his head.
“No it was just in an attic infested with rats. Honestly with all the droppings, dust, and junk everywhere you could have a picnic on that wood.”
“Ok so we’ll rinse it out really good when I get the splinter out and hope you don’t get hantavirus or something,” she paused, “how will we know if you get hantavirus?”
“I’ll get a fever and muscle aches. We’ll also start getting visited by poltergeists more often.”
“What?”
“Because it’s hantavirus.”
Salem blinked a few times before sighing and thunking her head on the kitchen table.
“Anyone, I could have married anyone.”
“What fun would that be,” said John chuckling.
Salem popped her head up with a smile.
“Alright, no more distractions. Let me get the knife.”
John grabbed her with his good hand before she got off the chair.
“Is there a chance it’ll go away on its own?”
She shook her head.
“You’re really that worried about me fishing it out?”
“Words like fishing don’t help. I’ve had splinters before that got absorbed by the body.”
Tilting her head she sighed looking at his finger.
“One that big is going to cause problems if you keep it in. I’d be worried about it going deeper over time.”
John released her immediately.
“Ok, cut it out of me.”
Laughing Salem walked towards the den where John kept his pocket knife. He watched her go with a smile before frowning at the splinter in his finger.
#
“Hold him down!”
Avarlon used her long arms to keep Conrad pinned to the ground. The man was thrashing and screaming. Considering the foreign object currently wriggling under his stomach John couldn’t blame him.
He knelt over Conrad with the pocket knife in his hand. His intent was to cut the strange creature from his stomach but putting that idea into practice was proving to be more difficult than his imagination thought it would be.
“You must hurry,” shouted Avarlon to be heard over Conrad’s panicked screaming, “if you don’t get it while it’s on the surface you’ll have to go rooting for it.”
“Don’t tell me that,” growled John as he watched the thing wiggling just above the man’s belly button.
John struggled to keep a grip on the knife as his hands trembled.
“Do it now!”
Gritting his teeth John steadied his hand and jabbed the point of the knife into Conrad’s flesh.
The man screamed and John found himself growing lightheaded as blood began seeping from the wound. Soon his vision was getting blurry and he was on the verge of throwing up.
“Pull yourself together,” came Avarlon’s booming voice, “your friend will die if you don’t snap out of it!”
Closing his eyes John took a deep breath and reopened them. His vision was a little more clear and he didn’t feel like passing out. But seeing the seeping wound was getting to him and he knew if they kept this up much longer he’d lose it.
“Hold him still.”
Trying to drown out the man’s tortured screams John focused all of his attention on what he was doing. He was glad the knife was sharp, but it still felt like he had to drag it through the man’s skin to create a small opening.
He had made the cut just ahead of the creature’s path and it soon appeared, as if curious about the new opening it found. John watched in horror as it’s eel-like head slowly pushed into view. The thing was the size of a tube of toothpaste and it was a pale gray.
A pair of beady black eyes peered out of the bloody wound and it’s mouth worked slowly as it casually sucked up the blood.
Avarlon’s hand suddenly appeared in view and quickly grabbed the creature. It made a small squealing sound as her bark-like hands gripped it and gently tugged it free from Conrad’s body. It continued squealing as she held it aloft, blood dripping from its small form.
“How the hell was that in the fruit he ate,” asked John incredulously.
“It starts out the size of a seed, but then it quickly grows once in the host. Another couple of minutes and it would be double this size.”
John’s eyes widened.
“How big does it get?”
“I’m not sure. It tends to leave the host after it reaches the length of your arm.”
They both stared silently as the creature writhing in Avarlon’s hand, squealing. He watched it try to nuzzle her fingers a few times but seemed unable to find purchase in her bark-like skin.
“Get that thing away from me.”
John’s eyes flashed to Conrad. In the chaos of everything he had entirely forgotten about him.
The man was sweating profusely and his teeth were set as he tried to bear the pain he was feeling. Glancing down at the incision he’d made John couldn’t blame him.
“How you feeling?”
“Like a gutted fish how do you think?”
Avarlon stepped away. After staring at the creature for a moment she suddenly closed her fist on it. The thing made a sharp squeal before it was silenced with a sickening pop, like someone had crushed a tomato.
There were tears in the woman’s eyes as she opened her fist to let the creature’s remains fall to the ground. She was muttering something under hear breath as she did so.
“Do you have anything for the wound?”
She nodded coming back.
“I do, but it’s not going to be pleasant.”
“Can’t be worse than this,” said Conrad attempting a smile.
It quickly faded when Avarlon didn’t share his mirth.
“Can it?”
“I’m going to stitch the wound shut with vines.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Hold onto that thought then, John you’ll want to hold him down.”
John quickly moved to Conrad’s side and pinned his arms down. The man wasn’t fighting him and seemed just as curious as he was.
Avarlon took a dep breath and knelt next to his side. She took a moment to study the seeping wound before raising a hand to one side.
A bush nearby shook violently and John turned to see several long, thin vines trailing out of it across the ground. They slithered like serpents towards them.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Hold him still.,” Avarlon said flatly, ignoring Conrad’s question.
As the vines drew closer John could feel Conrad moving underneath him so he put more pressure on the man’s arms to hold him still. When they crawled up his legs Conrad started bucking wildly trying to shake them off.
Avarlon dropped her free arm onto his knees holding them steady as the vines clambered up his thighs and to his stomach.
They swarmed around the open wound and dove inside. Conrad shrieked and John’s eyes went wide as he saw them wriggling around inside.
“What are you doing?!”
“Hold him still.”
The vines suddenly shot upward through the flesh surrounding the injury. Conrad’s entire body was struggling and his screams were deafening as John held him still, watching in horror.
Avarlon’s entire focus was on the vines as they dove up and down through his flesh. Amidst the terror John was feeling a spark of morbid fascination as they danced across the wound slowly pulling it closed.
Within seconds the wound was entirely sealed with the vines serving as suture. Two remaining vines tied themselves into tight knots before breaking off and wriggling off of Conrad’s body. John watched them disappear across the grass and back into the trees.
Avarlon’s hand lowered and she knelt closer to examine her work.
“I’ll put together a poultice so it doesn’t itch and I’ll gather some things for the pain.”
John was amazed to see that Conrad had stayed conscious through the entire ordeal, though he seemed on the brink of collapsing.
“Any chance you have a stiff one?”
Avarlon frowned and turned to John.
“He means alcohol.”
Her frown deepened.
“Nothing like that here, give me a moment and I’ll have some herbs for you.”
“Oh good, sprinkle some thyme on me that’ll fix everything.”
Though Avarlon seemed to ignore him as she walked away John noticed a faint smile on her gray lips. Conrad sat up with a hiss and she whirled back to face him.
“Move slowly or you’ll tear it open again.”
“And?”
“And I’ll have to summon more vines.”
Conrad’s face paled a bit and he nodded slowly.
“Good, now wait here.”
After she walked behind the large tree Conrad laughed and lowered himself back to the ground.
“What’s so funny?”
“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but I’m still hungry.”
John searched his eyes for a moment as the man continued laughing. Soon a smile broke out on his own face and he joined in laughing with him.
#
“Is that the first time you’ve ever done surgery?”
John looked over at Conrad. They had been waiting for several minutes now and Avarlon still wasn’t back. Conrad looked a lot better and some color had returned to his face, but he was clearly still in pain.
“Sort of.”
“What do you mean sort of? Like you aren’t sure or you cut into someone but it wasn’t surgery?”
John was silent for a moment as he thought of how to answer.
“Oh damn,” said Conrad in a murmur, “it’s the last one isn’t it?”
Having an answer for that answer was even harder, but John realized too late it would have been better to say anything, even a lie.
“Who was it?”
Sighing John looked over at Conrad, he was surprised to see the man didn’t have a look of horror or shock on his face, but one of genuine curiosity.
“My wife.”
“You cut your wife?”
“Yes.”
Conrad was silent for a moment.
“Like on accident?”
Unsure how to answer John went with the truth.
“I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure?”
“I mean I don’t really remember.”
“I fell like that’s something most people would remember.”
There was a pause.
“Is that why you were strapped to the hospital bed?”
John shrugged.
“To be honest I don’t really know why I’m here, but maybe?”
Conrad rolled his eyes and flopped his head back a moment. John frowned as he rolled his head forward and gave him a steady gaze.
“We’re in the middle of a haunted forest, inside of a tech corporation from hell, and at least a dozen people have died around us. There’s nothing you’ve done that’s going to be worse than any of that.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
This had an effect on Conrad who seemed genuinely surprised by that response.
“I’ll tell you,” said John slowly, “but do you want to know?”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s a genie that can’t be put back in the bottle once it’s let out. Everyone I’ve told has thought I was insane, wanted nothing to do with me, and in a handful of cases tried to kill me.”
John suddenly laughed as he thought about it.
“And the absurd thing about it all is that I’m not even sure if any of it is real.”
Looking back at Conrad he cleared his throat before continuing.
“Do you want to know about this dark and horrible thing I may or may not have done? Or do you want to go along believing I’m someone normal that you shouldn’t be afraid of?”
Conrad was silent for a long time and John started kicking himself mentally. That wasn’t at all what he wanted to say, but it had been said and he didn’t trust himself to try and fix it. Instead he patiently waited as Conrad rolled it around in his mind.
“Tell me this,” said Conrad slowly, “is there any reason I should be concerned to be around you?”
“I have no intention of harming you if that’s what you mean.”
“Ok, then I don’t want to know.”
John frowned.
“Look man, I think I have an idea of what happened and frankly I don’t care. You’ve had plenty of chances to kill me or worse and not once have you taken the opportunity to.”
He tilted his head to one side as if something occurred to him.
“It could be that you’re not pulling anything because I’m your best shot of getting out of here alive or whatever. But that went out the window when I got injured, if anything I’ll need you to keep me alive more than you need me…”
Sighing he lowered his head back to the ground.
“And if we’re being perfectly honest I have a few skeletons in my own closet.”
“As dark as mine?”
“Maybe.”
John laid down on the grass with his hands behind his head.
“Then I don’t really want to know either.”
They were both quiet for a long while as each dealt with their own thoughts. John had the feeling he was exaggerating about the skeletons in his closet, but he wasn’t about to correct him on it. As long as the man was willing to give him some trust he wasn’t going to corrupt it.
“So what’s our next steps?”
John looked over at Conrad who was watching him carefully.
“What do you mean?”
“Well we’re in a garden with the only known door being locked that even if we could open leads to a nonfunctioning elevator and a changing hallway of nightmares.”
“I liked your idea of dismantling the elevator with the pocket knife. It might take us a while, but I’d rather do that then find out what other anomalies or nightmares or whatever the hell is down here.”
“Doesn’t change the door being locked.”
John puzzled on that for a moment.
“Think you could shoot the lock out?”
“I could, but I don’t know if that’s a great idea.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have that many bullets left.”
“How many do you have left?”
“Probably six in the clip with two more clips on my belt.”
“How many are on the extra clips?”
“Sixteen each.”
John raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, 38 or so bullets really doesn’t sound like a lot.”
Conrad sighed.
“I know it sounds stupid, but I’d rather not waste any in case we need them.”
“Then it’s a good thing you only shoot at bullet proof glass, living vines, and a kind tree-lady.”
“In my defense if the glass broke we’d have been fine, and with the-.”
“Forget it,” said John waving a hand, “it’s your gun your choice. What do you want to do instead?”
“I think we ask tree-lady if there’s a way out of here. She says the employees used to visit her I imagine that means there’s a door they could get in and out of.”
“That means going deeper into the building and further from the elevator.”
“But maybe she knows a way out that we can actually use.”
John frowned, while Avarlon had been helpful she really didn’t seem to know a whole lot about what went on outside the garden. He doubted she’d know enough about the layout of the building to provide them with any useful directions.
Conrad seemed to read his mind and nodded as he started talking.
“I know she probably doesn’t know anything, but she’s the first person we’ve met who knows something. And frankly I feel better having her around. I have no idea what we would have done with that rubber band man or whatever the hell he was.”
“Or what we would have done to us,” agreed John.
“If I’m being perfectly honest part of me wants to just wait here. This is a large company, odds are they’re going to get a handle on things and turn this around. I bet a private military force is making its way through the facility right now.”
“And they’d be capable of handling rubber band man?”
This stumped Conrad for a moment.
“All I know is that she seems pretty capable and I feel better having her around.”
John couldn’t think of a counter response. Something inside was telling him they needed to keep moving and find a way out, but he couldn’t think of why. His earlier thoughts about what he’d do if they did escape came back and he realized he had no good answers to any of those questions.
It seemed absurd to stay put and live in the garden while the company figured out what was going on, but what alternative was there? Escape topside and live as a wanted man on the run? Somebody was bound to recognize him as the guy on death row and then he’d be right back in that chair with tubes in his arms.
The more he thought about it the more it made sense to stay put. Conrad was in no condition to be wandering the halls getting into trouble, Avarlon was more than capable of keeping them alive, and they had no idea what they’d be looking for anyway. If the elevator required a keycard to go topside why would there be a less secure alternative? Wouldn’t any option of escape require similar security measures?
“You know what? I think you’re right,” said John looking up at the large branches of the tree, “let’s wait for the cavalry to show up.”
“Now you’re talking.”
The two men lay silently on the grass staring up at nothing. After a moment John heard soft breathing and he looked over to see Conrad fast asleep. Watching the man sleep he realized how tired he was and decided to close his eyes for a moment.
#
“Wake up.”
John opened his eyes and saw Avarlon standing near him. Stretching he sat upright.
“Hey Avarlon, must have dozed off for a moment.”
“I can see that,” she said with a smile, “feel rested?”
John nodded, looking over he saw Conrad blinking awake.
“Oh man, how long was I out?”
“Not long, I wouldn’t have woken you but there is a matter that requires both of your attention.”
Almost immediately the mood shifted and John turned to study Avarlon more closely. The woman looked haggard, as if she had just finished running a marathon.
“What’s wrong?”
“I find myself stretched a little thin at the moment and I need your help.”
“What do you mean?”
She held her hands up.
“On the one hand I’m focused on keeping the one imitating Mr. Clemont secure where we found him.”
She closed her right hand into a fist before opening it again.
“I can feel him squirming around under the dirt even now, trying desperately to escape.”
Closing her left hand she said.
“And now a new problem has arrived that is similarly consuming my time and energy. I’m afraid I can’t do both for much longer.”
“What’s the other problem?”
Her mouth opened to say something, but she shook her head in frustration.
“I’ll just show you, I would spend too much time trying to explain and time is something precious we do not have.”
Without waiting for a response she turned away, letting her hands fall to her sides. John raised an eyebrow at Conrad before following after her.
“Can you give me a hand?”
John looked back and saw the man struggling to pick himself up off the ground. Each movement seemed to cause him pain and looking at the lattice of vines John could understand why. It occurred to him that Avarlon was supposed to gather herbs for the pain, but she must have gotten distracted.
Rushing over to Conrad he extended a hand and helped him up. The effort caused a sweat to break out on Conrad’s face and his skin went a little pale.
“You alright?”
“I’ll be fine, just don’t ask me to walk fast or anything.”
They followed Avarlon out of the cover of the large tree and down a side path. The woman seemed impatient for them to follow but her eyes would flicker to Conrad’s stomach any time she attempted to say something.
John marveled that the woman was even upright. He’d never met anyone who suffered a gunshot wound, but he imagined taking one to the chest would put most people lucky enough to still be alive out of commission for a while.
After a few more yards John became aware of a buzzing. It reminded him of when the lights in his high school would buzz whenever the room became quiet. It was never loud enough to be a problem, but just enough that it was annoying now and then.
“What is that?”
Avarlon looked back at them.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I’m certain it isn’t good.”
A few more yards and they stepped onto a path. John’s eyes widened as they saw what Avarlon was talking about and right away he agreed with her, it wasn’t good.
The buzzing was coming from a large orb floating in the air. It was dark purple and the edges crackled as if they were lightning. Avarlon had fashioned a cage of branches that surrounded the orb. Every few seconds the branches would hiss, a small spark of light would appear in the center of the orb and the branches would be missing. They would only be gone for a second before more would appear.
John noticed beneath the orb the ground was missing. It was as if someone had taken a curved shovel and scooped out a large chunk of the dirt. He noticed the branches would rest on the dirt for a moment before disappearing.
“What is that,” asked Conrad in wonderment.
“I haven’t the faintest,” Avarlon said tersely, “it appeared here a few minutes ago and I’ve been monitoring it ever since. It consumes everything in its immediate vicinity every few seconds. If there’s nothing to consume it extends the radius of what it gathers. It seems if it has something to feed on it’s content to keep the radius small.”
“So you’re keeping it fed with branches.”
She nodded.
“Problem is I can’t keep this up forever. The orb is standing over what used to be a beautiful lilac tree. I’ve been forced to feed it two bushes already.”
She shook her head sadly.
“It seems if it comes into contact with a part of anything it will consume the whole. It came into contact with a branch of the first bush and the entire bush disappeared. Since then I’ve been feeding it slowly with these cages.”
She looked over at the two men, the weariness evident on her face.
“I’d be grateful for your assistance.”
“What are we supposed to do,” asked Conrad, “It’s not like we can take over.”
“Any ideas would be appreciated.”
“What have you tried,” asked John.
“I’ve fed it a variety of materials but nothing seems to make a difference. It seems rather indiscriminate towards what it consumes.”
“Should I shoot it?”
Both John and Avarlon looked at Conrad who had drawn his weapon.
“Do you think it wise?”
Conrad shrugged.
“What could it hurt?”
“Very well,” said Avarlon with a sigh, “fire upon the thing.”
Taking aim Conrad centered on the orb and fired a shot. John was waiting for any number of things to happen from a large explosion to it shattering like glass. Instead it merely rippled as the bullet came in contact and seemed to hesitate before eating the next cage Avarlon constructed for it.
“Should I shoot again?”
“No I think not. When I flung a rock at it the same thing happened.”
“What if we were to-.”
Avarlon’s eyes suddenly widened as she stared at something behind John and Conrad. Both men spun around, though Conrad took a bit longer to, and saw what she was looking at.
A group of people dressed in tattered hospital gowns had walked onto the path and were looking at the three of them warily. Among the group were a few that were bloody and battered as if they had just walked away from a fight.
“Hey,” said a young man who was closer to them.
“Hi,” said John slowly, unnerved by their sudden appearance.
“My name’s Tim,” he said hesitantly, his eyes slowly moving between John and Conrad.
“Mine’s John.”
“You look like one of us,” he said gesturing to John’s gown, “any idea what the hell is going on?”
“Not really,” John looking at the members of the group individually, “looks like some of you have been through-.”
His gaze settled on a single individual standing in the middle of the group. It was a middle-aged man whose gown had a few spots of blood. But what caught John’s attention were his eyes, the large familiar blue eyes.
It was the man who had been lying next to him in the room he woke up in. The man who was still lying there because the insane doctor had slashed his throat and he bled out. Whose blue eyes were staring at nothing when John had left the room.
“Conrad,” said John softly, “the man in the middle with the blue eyes and the blonde hair.”
“What about him?”
“Not real.”
The young man who’d been speaking was about to say something when Conrad drew his weapon and fired on the man John had pointed out. John was startled by the act but was quickly grateful for it when he saw the man’s reaction. There was a brief look of shock on the man’s face before he collapsed to the ground and a familiar oily brown substance oozed out of his chest.
The others in the group didn’t give him so much as a glance. They merely sighed in unison, smiled, and rushed forward.
Conrad fired his weapon into the group as he and John backed up towards Avarlon. Vines exploded out of their surroundings and John turned back to see Avarlon’s hands raised. She was gritting her dark gray teeth and her hands were trembling.
A sudden click brought John’s attention to Conrad in time to see him cursing as he fished for one of the clips on his belt. The empty clip in the gun dropped out and hit the floor as Conrad discarded it to make way for a new one. It was then John realized he had no weapons of his own
While Conrad had taken a few down and Avarlon was picking them off one by one there were still a few standing. Conrad was promptly tackled by a young woman who resembled the one that had been sitting in front of John.
John was tackled by someone and he immediately lashed out with his fists, striking the assailant on the head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Avarlon grappling with two herself. The break in her concentration resulted in one of the assailants she’d strung up with vines managing to wrestle itself free. It regained its feet and quickly charged her.
The one who tackled John was an unfamiliar older woman who was trying to get a hold of his throat. John grasped her wrists firmly and was startled by her strength when she suddenly lifted them both off the ground and slammed him back into the dirt.
It hurt, but he managed to keep a grip on her wrists as she reared up again. This time John gained his feet and pushed backward, pulling her on top of him. She was unprepared for what was a terrible improvised wrestling move and landed on him in a heap.
Another figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around John’s throat. He gagged for breath only to find that the attacker had effectively closed off his air supply. Bucking and thrashing John tried to wrestle away, but the older woman pinned his arms down and the two waited for him to suffocate.
John heard Avarlon roar angrily and there were several screams as wood crackled and splintered from her direction. The buzzing of the orb suddenly grew to a frenzied pitch and Avarlon started screaming in horror.
“John look out!”
Unable to look John felt his strength leaving him as his body’s supply of oxygen dwindled. The two figures were watching patiently when their gazes suddenly shifted to something behind him.
For a brief moment he watched their faces change from smiling fools to something approaching shock as the buzzing grew with ferocity. Something brushed his head and immediately the spot felt like it had been struck with lightning.
One minute he was staring at two panicked faces and the next everything was black.
Author’s Note:
I hope you’re enjoying Darkshield: John’s Arc 1. A new chapter comes out free every week and next week’s chapter will be available on September 28th 2020.
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