Eternal City by Nancy Kilpatrick & Michael Kilpatrick

Author:Nancy Kilpatrick & Michael Kilpatrick [Kilpatrick, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror
Publisher: Crossroad Press & Macabre Ink Digital
Published: 2011-03-25T03:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Come. Farther. He hears the words clearly and yet they are not like spoken words, more wind against sails.

The place is dimly-lit. Moist. Close. His body feels sticky.

Holding his hand, THE MOTHER leads him. They float downhill. Continually downhill. Her skin. Not soft, not rough. Neither warm nor cold. Eternal.

The scents. Of darkness. Of earth. Of flowers. Cloying.

Fear. Deep and twisting. Bottomless. Primal.

Run!

You are not afraid!

Gold walls flecked with glittering silver.

A flutter from the Otherworld.

Chatter. Laugher.

Eating. They tear into their food. Ravenous but unable to be filled. He understands.

Serve the Greater Good she tells him, and he looks deep into her opal eyes. Her eternal eyes.

~ * ~

Varik jolted awake. The dream clung to him along with the clammy sweat adhering to his body. This wasn’t the first time he’d had the nightmare. But he’d never been this far before, this deep.

He checked the clock. Glowing numbers read 6:00 a.m. He sat up and rubbed his eyes then reached out a trembling hand to the glass of water. He felt uncomfortable, grimy, and wanted a shower. The phone rang.

He picked up the receiver. No one on the other end, yet the summons seemed clear.

Varik got up, went to his desk and unlocked the top drawer. He removed a packaged sterilized needle, a syringe, a short length of rubber and three of the glass vials. After he tied his arm, he fitted the needle and syringe together and pierced the vein on the inside of his right elbow; the vein in his left arm had collapsed. He plugged a vial into the syringe and, when it filled, another, until all three had darkened with his blood. Then he dressed quickly and picked up his sunglasses on the way out the door.

He walked one block, crossed a playground, and went down another two empty streets past the building marked CLINIC. Through the glass of the dome he could see that the night was not quite ready to capitulate to the sun. His mind crackled, alive with thoughts unconnected to emotion.

Perhaps he should inform Brenda. She would be on her own soon. He must make sure Sullivan went to visit Mrs. Robineau again.

Eventually Varik reached the restaurant. He crossed the drawbridge and entered the building, aware of feeling like a kernel of excitement about to pop. A second meeting. So soon! He felt honored, yet understood that this was as it should be. He was crucial to their success. He knew that. More importantly, THEY understood it.

Auxiliary lighting from the floorboards lit the hallway, dim but easy enough to see by. As he strode across the main room, heels slapping marble, all remnants of the dream with its terrifying images evaporated.

Varik unlocked the door to the smaller room and stepped inside. The fireplace blazed with fragrant red cedar logs, the only light. The three chairs facing him were occupied by pale figures, their features hidden in shadow. They sat, backs straight, heads poised, calm, immobile.

He stood before them feeling what he always felt.

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