John and the team watched as the stranger slowly came around. He was tied to a chair and stripped down to his underwear. John wasn’t sure why the last part was necessary but he chalked it up to his inexperience gathering information from someone against their will.
Barney knelt in front of the man and tapped him on the cheek.
‘’Rise and shine big guy.”
The man blinked awake, upon seeing Barney he immediately pulled against his restraints.
“Come on,” Barney said in a chiding tone, “you know better.”
The man suddenly opened his mouth wide and bit down with a clack of teeth. When nothing happened he did it again and the sound of his teeth cracking together sent chills down John’s spine.
“Buddy, looking for this?”
Barney raised a hand to reveal a small metal microdot. John wasn’t sure what it was, but the stranger seemed terribly upset that Barney had it.
“And what is this exactly,” Barney said looking down at it, “quick release poison? A device created via an Anomaly to achieve the same effect?”
“Why don’t you bite it and find out?”
Barney smirked and gently placed the microdot into Cybil’s hand. She took it and quickly placed it in a glass vial before stashing it in a metal case that she held.
“To be honest I don’t care.”
Barney swiftly drew his gun and used it to bash the man across the face. Blood squirted from the man’s nose and he grunted in pain.
“I’d rather know what your name is.”
“Go to hell.”
Barney aimed the gun at the man’s leg and fired. John’s eyes went wide and the man jumped, but the bullet had traveled past his leg and into the ground.
“The next one goes in your leg.”
“Put it in my head, what do I care?”
Barney grinned and tapped the man’s forehead with the barrel of the gun.
“But that’s the easy way out.”
“Look pal,” said the stranger as he spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor, “I’m prepared to die and I’ve been through some shit you can’t even begin to understand. What makes you think I’m afraid of anything you could possibly do to me?”
“Everyone’s afraid of pain,” Barney said in a tone that made John’s skin crawl.
“Not the kind you can deal.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Positive,” the man said without any hesitation.
Barney searched his eyes a moment before nodding.
“You know what, you’re probably right.”
He walked over to his backpack and opened it. He withdrew the same kind of device Nel had used to bring them to this planet.
“I can only cause so much pain, but the thing is I know a place that can.”
Turning on the device he began punching a series of buttons.
“Have you ever heard of MW-63?”
The man ignored him.
“Darkshield had sent a team to that location and the team returned ahead of schedule an hour later.”
He looked up at the man.
“Do you want to know why?”
When he didn’t receive a response, he tapped a button and with a flash the device curiously projected a hole in the ground.
“Because they had been trapped for over a decade in that hell hole.”
Without any warning Barney grabbed the man and slammed his body against the ground. John had a brief second to see the man’s eyes go wide before his face was forced into the hole. Almost immediately the man’s body started writhing and struggling against the restraints.
Barney only held the man there for a second or two before yanking him out of it. When the man resurfaced John was shocked by the change the man had undergone.
His face was gaunt and tears were streaming down his eyes. His hair had an oily, greasy look and blood was trickling form the corner of his mouth.
The hole in the ground shrunk down until it disappeared, and Barney tapped the device thoughtfully.
“My math isn’t exactly good, but if you were gone two seconds here that means you were there for about two days, give or take.”
The man started sobbing and his eyes rolled around in their sockets.
“I don’t understand a lot about time and space distortion, but if I understand correctly your head experienced the time passing, but your body did not. In fact while your ugly face was experiencing horrific pain and slowly dying of thirst and starvation, your body wasn’t.”
He knelt down in front of the man.
“You know what that means?”
The man’s chin trembled as blood trickled down it.
“I can hold you in that hole for an entire hour and you’re face would experience an entire decade of that hell. Your body wouldn’t know the difference, but that face of yours would.”
He suddenly chuckled and straightened up.
“I wonder if you would die of old age if your head was in it’s nineties, but your body wasn’t. It would only take a few hours to test it out.”
He started punching numbers in the device.
“Want to find out?”
Tapping a final button he held out the device and it projected another hole in the ground. The man immediately started screaming.
“Ok, what do you want to know?!”
“I want your name.”
“Peter.”
“Who do you work for Peter?”
“I serve the Order of Light.”
John could tell by the blank expressions and the exchanged glances that no one seemed familiar with that group.
“What’s your objective?”
“I was sent to kill your team.”
“Why?”
The man smiled, blood staining his teeth.
“You and the other off world teams were the final obstacle to our victory.”
“And what victory is that?”
The man glanced over at Cybil and his grin grew wider.
“What was the Order of Light’s goal?”
A trail of blood trickled from the man’s mouth.
“You shouldn’t have taken the microdot from me.”
“Tell me what I need-.”
Peter suddenly started coughing violently and blood sprayed from his mouth. Barney backed up as the man began seizing.
Cybil attempted to approach the man when he started laughing causing her to stop short.
“You shouldn’t have taken it!”
John’s eyes widened as the man’s skin started splitting from the center of his forehead up over the top of his head. The man’s laughter turned to screaming as he shook in his chair. Barney quickly backed up from the man, sharing John’s look of horror.
Everyone watched as the man’s head was slowly pulled apart into four pieces. Two hands covered in gore reached through the opening between his shoulders and gripped the skull halves. Slowly a small humanoid creature the size of a small child but much thinner began emerging from the man’s body. Its body was black and slathered with the man’s blood, two beady red eyes glared at the room.
“Open fire!”
John was taken off guard by the shouted command and further startled by the staccato of gunfire that poured into the creature. It hissed wildly as its body erupted in bullet wounds, but it continued to pry itself free from the body in spite of the damage it was receiving.
Barney stalked forward holding a monstrous looking shotgun and held it to the thing’s small head. It started to turn to him before he fired the weapon. One minute the creature was halfway out of Peter’s body and the next it was missing a torso with inky puddles staining the wall.
“Alright,” barked Marcus, “I want everyone ready to travel in five minutes.”
Barney turned to him and John was surprised to notice the man’s hands trembling.
“Sasha isn’t awake yet,” Dimitri said slowly.
Marcus glanced at Cybil who tilted her head, displeased with the unspoken question.
“It’s risky, my advice would be to transport her asleep and jostle her as little as possible.”
Nel asked a question but John’s attention was immediately captured by the creature Barney had just blown away. The inky mess on the wall was slowly collecting on the floor and the remnants of the creature’s body inside of Peter was still writhing around. In disbelief he watched as the puddle slowly formed into the head and torso of the creature.
“Barney,” shouted John.
The man frowned before whirling to where John was looking. Seeing the creature on the ground he fired again with the shotgun and tore a newly formed arm free. Within seconds the resulting puddle flowed back to the torso and a new arm was formed.
“Flush it!”
John frowned until he saw Dimitri appear with a portal device in hand. Quickly tapping out a series of numbers he aimed it at the creature and activated it. The creature dropped through the ground as a portal formed below its body. A moment later the blue disc disappeared.
Barney sighed as he shouldered the shotgun.
“Weirdest interrogation I’ve ever done.”
Peter’s body was still jostling around and Barney leaned over to peer inside the cavity where the man’s neck used to be.
“The bottom half is still moving around inside.”
“We’ll detonate it,” murmured Marcus as he stared at the spot the figure had disappeared.
“You want to detonate?”
Marcus glanced at Barney.
“This dimension is compromised. The Order of Light…whoever that is, knows we’re here. Before they return with reinforcements to do the job the old-fashioned way or recalibrate their instruments to freeze all of us this time I want us gone.”
“I want to know how the hell they knew we were here,” growled Barney, “these are highly classified missions, only high-level individuals at Darkshield even know they exist, and it takes even higher clearance to know where we’re sent.”
“That’s why we’re heading to Gray Matter. I have a feeling John’s right and Darkshield is experiencing a massive incursion.”
“Or had one.”
Marcus turned to John.
“You heard the man,” he said, his eyes glued to the quivering body, “he said the off-world teams were the last line of defense. I’m guessing that means the primary lines of defense have been dealt with.”
Marcus nodded his face grim.
“They’ve secured the main facilities and now they’re eliminating anyone who can launch a rescue.”
“That means we need to get to Gray Matter immediately,” said Nel, “it’s possible they’re also a target of these psychopaths.”
“Then we need to get a move on. Five minutes and we’re out of here. Dimitri I want you to start placing charges around base camp, I don’t want anything standing once we leave.”
Everyone started moving around the tent gathering weapons, ammo, and other supplies. John stayed where he was, his eyes on what remained of Peter as it jostled around.
“John?”
He took his time looking over at Nel.
“John what’s going on?”
“I can’t go with you.”
Barney muttered something under his breath as he shouldered his backpack and left the tent. Dimitri was on his way out but paused and waited.
“I can’t do this,” John said, his voice shaking as a well of emotions threatened to burst out of him.
“You can’t do what?”
“This,” John cried, waving a hand at the mess in front of him, “I still don’t know what the hell is going on, what just happened, or why I’m even here.”
“I brought you here, remember?”
“I meant at the damn facility!”
Nel glanced over at Dimitri.
“Bring Cybil back.”
The man nodded and slowly left the tent.
“I was dying, I was dead! My eyes were closing and all the hell and torment I was feeling was going to be gone forever. But now not only is it still there, but I’ve been living a nightmare ever since my eyes opened again.”
He ran a hand through his hair, both disturbed and reassured that it was there.
“I don’t even really know if any of this is real or…something else.”
Nel gently touched his shoulders and looked into his eyes. John found it hard to maintain eye contact with her as he kept wanting to look over at Peter’s still moving body.
“John this is real, but it’s going to be ok.”
John laughed, the sound strained and cracking a little as it burst from his throat.
“Are you serious!? Then tell me this Nel, can you guarantee that some eight-legged creature won’t appear and attack us?”
She frowned.
“How about another attack team with the ability to freeze people or whatever the hell that was? Are you sure a fidget spinner or hallway of death isn’t going to fall out of the sky and kill us? Can you tell me that someone or something won’t randomly appear out of thin air having been transported here from another planet?”
He looked past her at Peter.
“Or that damn thing won’t figure a way out of that man’s body and do something?!”
Nel glanced back at Peter a moment before returning her gaze to John.
“I think we need to step outside a moment.”
“No,” John said shakily as he brushed her hands off of him, “No I’m not going outside, I’m not stepping into another portal, I’m not staying here, I’m not doing anything.”
John’s whole body shook and his eyes were locked on Peter. At any moment he expected the creature to burst forth like it was emerging from a cocoon and take on some terrifying form. Soon he had terrifying visions of the tent collapsing down on him revealing he was inside the mouth of some monster or that Nel would suddenly smile and reveal herself to be a mannequin.
This last one made him double check her shadow, just to be sure.
Cybil came into the room and glanced between John and Nel. Dimitri was right behind her.
“What’s going on?”
“He’s,” Nel glanced at John before walking over and whispering into Cybil’s ear.
John’s eyes narrowed, wondering what she’d told her and he started wondering where the pistol he had been holding earlier was. It took him a moment to remember that Marcus had taken it.
“I see,” said Cybil nodding.
The lithe woman took a few steps towards him and John held a hand up.
“Stay back.”
She immediately stopped and held her hands up.
“Ok, I’ll stay here. Just tell me how you’re feeling John.”
John shook his head.
“No, I’m done talking.”
Marcus suddenly appeared and frowned at the four of them.
“What the hell is this?”
Cybil held a hand up to shush him.
“John’s feeling a little overwhelmed with what’s going on right now and he needs a moment.”
The frown on Marcus’s face deepened.
“We don’t have a moment. We need to go now.”
“I’m aware of that,” murmured Cybil, her eyes never leaving John, “but he’s in no condition to travel and I don’t want to hurt him or anyone else by making him.”
“I’m not going.”
“Fine,” said Marcus gruffly, “then let him stay.”
“Marcus-.”
“I don’t want to hear it Cybil. If the man’s a basket case that makes him a liability for where we’re going. If he’s not fit to travel than he stays behind. If he’s still alive after we’ve sorted this all out then we’ll come back and get him.”
Before anyone else could speak he ducked back out of the tent and called over his shoulder.
“One minute people.”
Cybil sighed before giving John a small smile.
“I understand this is probably overwhelming for you.”
“No you don’t,” said John cutting her off, “This is my second time in a different dimension and what, less than a day ago I didn’t know dimensions or planets or whatever you want to call them even existed. How many planets is this for you?”
She frowned.
“This is my 75th trip.”
John’s eyebrows shot up.
“75 different dimensions?”
“At least 40 unique ones.”
John shook his head.
“That’s exactly my point. You couldn’t possibly understand. This is all relatively normal for you.”
“It’s still an adjustment for us each time, we might be more desensitized, but we’re still unsettled when things happen.”
John pointed at Peter’s body.
“The bottom half of a creature is still writhing around in that man’s body trying to escape and no one has commented on it since the top half was sent to another world. I have no idea what the hell that thing is, what its capable of, or how it even got in the man’s body. And none of you seem to care.”
Cybil sighed and glanced at Peter.
“I’ll admit we’re probably more desensitized than even we realize. Nel’s the expert, but if I were to guess I’d say it’s likely a failsafe. I mistakenly assumed the microdot was a quick acting poison, but now I suspect it was meant to keep the creature inside the soldier from manifesting.”
Seeing the look on John’s face she rolled her eyes.
“I know none of that makes sense, but my point is we are experienced with these kinds of things.”
“More importantly John,” Nel suddenly said, “we’ve survived things like this multiple times in the past. If you want to live, your best chance is to go with us instead of remaining alone on this planet.”
“But you intend to walk into the lion’s den. You want to go back to the facility and face whatever horrors are in that place head on. Not to mention you’ll be hunted the entire time.”
“And you’re right. To be fair you could be safe here, but what do you think will happen if members of the Order show up with more soldiers. Or another Dog-Spider shows up or some other organism we didn’t know existed on this planet? There might even be a roaming sandstorm that rolls through here and demolishes the area.”
“Not to mention,” said Dimitri casually, “that we will destroy this camp and all the supplies. So you will be alone with whatever you can carry and no shelter.”
John shook his head and ran a hand through his hair looking around.
“We don’t mean to pressure you John,” Cybil said urgently, “but we are going to leave you soon and I would like you to come with us.”
“Really, you want a liability following you around?”
“From way I see,” said Dimitri pointedly, “you warned us of danger, stalled Dog-Spider long enough for us to kill it and kept us safe when we were defenseless and under attack. You might not be trained and yes a little weak perhaps, but you have kept us alive.”
“So basically, I’m the little Maltese barking at the home invaders until you come along and deal with the threat.”
“Not Maltese, more like Moscow Watchdog.”
John smiled and a small genuine laugh came out.
“Let’s move people!”
The three of them looked out the tent and Cybil smiled sympathetically.
“It’s your choice, if you want to come along meet us outside otherwise you might want to leave the campsite.”
“Unless I want to go up with all the stuff.”
She nodded sadly.
“That’s certainly an option.”
She ducked out of the tent and Dimitri gave him a long look before following her. Nel hesitated at the entrance.
“At the very least you should come with us to visit the Gray Matter team. It may not be the best place in the world, but it’ll certainly be safer than here.”
John nodded but stayed where he was. The shaking had subsided, but he still felt jumpy, like the walls were going to cave in at any moment.
Nel’s look was a little longer than Dimitri’s and a little sadder than Cybil’s. When she walked out John felt some of the anxiety come back and with it the dark thoughts.
“Ok,” he said aloud to himself, “stay and get blown up, survive in the wilds of this insane place, or walk with them into the gates of hell?”
He ran both hands through his hair and shook his head.
“It’s insane. I can’t do this.”
Closing his eyes he took several deep breaths and tugged on a tuft of hair above his ear.
“It’s stupid John, it’s stupid.”
With a growl he opened his eyes and walked out of the tent. He found the team was standing in a circle a few yards away.
“You coming or going,” barked Marcus.
“I’ll go.”
“You sure you don’t want to stay and get blown up,” said Barney casually, “it’d do yourself and us a favor if you did.”
John stared at the man for a moment. The anxiety he was feeling earlier gave way to a new emotion and a smile crept on his face.
“And miss the chance to save your sorry butt again?”
Barney smirked and turned away to ignore him, but John could tell the comment had some sting.
“Alright enough chitchat,” said Marcus as he stepped towards John, “here’s Sasha’s portal device. Don’t push any of the buttons, just aim it slightly in front of you when we say.”
John looked around before realizing Marcus was toting a large body bag over a backpack. The gentle movement of the bag now and then told him it was Sasha and she was still alive.
“We’re going to jump just outside of Gray Matter’s main facility. We do a full recon sweep to make sure there’s no threats and then we go in. Remember, no one comes into contact with any member of Gray Matter under any circumstances.”
“What, why?”
Marcus frowned at him.
“We’ll explain later. Just don’t touch anyone.”
A bit of the anxiety from before was coming back, but John kept it suppressed. If he was to survive it made sense to go with these insane individuals.
“Ok, Dimitri are the charges ready?”
The man nodded holding a hand to a device that looked like a highly complicated watch on his wrist.
“Alright let’s move people.”
Marcus stood in the center of the group and aimed his device a foot or so ahead of him. The other members of the team held theirs out so John did the same with his. Glancing at the interface he saw a collage of data and numbers flying across the screen and had no idea what any of it meant.
“3…2…1…Mark.”’
The device in John’s hand vibrated a bit and a small blue disc appeared on the ground in front of him. At the same time everyone else’s devices did the same thing.
“Jump.”
Everyone except Dimitri stepped forward and vanished into the portals they’d created. John met Dimitri’s calm gaze for a moment before stepping into his. That same odd sensation occurred and he found himself falling.
This time he was a little more prepared and he caught himself before falling. He looked up to see Barney shaking his head, almost as if disappointed that he didn’t fall.
But John no longer cared about Barney. Instead his attention was focused on his surroundings. The sky was filled with dark black clouds that crackled and hissed as lightning jumped between them. The ground they were on was filled with dead weeds and cracked concrete.
Looking around he realized they were in the ruins of what was probably once a city. It was hard to tell because everything was broken or overgrown with dead weeds, but the architecture seemed off. Everything was rounded and there were no corners anywhere.
Dimitri dropped down in front of him and John looked up to see Dimitri’s disc hovering in the air before fading to nothing. When he looked down he saw Dimitri smiling and extend a hand as if to display their surroundings.
“Welcome to Cranium my friend.”
Author’s Note:
I hope you’re enjoying Darkshield: John’s Arc 2. A new chapter comes out free every week and next week’s chapter will be available on November 23, 2020.
If you enjoy receiving it in serial fashion than feel free to support the project through Patreon. You can find a community of readers like you who enjoy this world I’m creating and want to see it grow by providing whatever support they can. My Patreon page can be found by clicking here.
Finally, if your finances are tight right now or you have mixed feelings about the book and aren’t sure you want to support a weirdo, then keep reading for free as the chapters come out every week. I’m doing this for fun and I’m appreciative of anyone who’s coming along for the ride.