Whispers From The Abyss 2: The Horrors That Were and Shall Be

Author:Laird Barron & Cody Goodfellow & Greg Stolze & A.C. Wise & John C. Foster & John Palisano & Dennis Detwiller & Konstantine Paradise & Chad Fifer [Barron, Laird & Goodfellow, Cody & Stolze, Greg & Wise, A.C. & Foster, John C. & Palisano, John & Detwiller, Dennis & Paradise, Konstantine & Fifer, Chad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 01Publishing
Published: 2015-10-02T22:00:00+00:00

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Our rooms were small but clean. There was nothing about them I could sense that was off. I'd grabbed my keycard from a sign- in desk and found myself down and away from most the others. I moved fast on purpose. I needed a break, which I hadn't felt I'd gotten. I just wanted to be alone for a while. No one else. I was grateful for the brief moments. Shutting my eyes, it'd only be about an hour and a half until the nighttime event went down. I wasn't down for singing and dancing, but I sure would be up for a drink or seven, and maybe a little more to peck at. Heck, it'd be a good experience, if nothing else.

I set the alarm on my phone and shut my eyes again. Dreams didn't come. I hovered in my thoughts, and heard steps and voices passing my room and outside. I didn't care. I just liked being still for the first time in a long time. I thought about Sunny, and how I’d gotten there, and then thought even further back––to the many other choices I’d made in life that had delivered me right into the belly of the beast. Maybe if I’d worked a little harder in school, had gotten better grades, made it into good college, I might have found myself, and found a special someone to share my life with. Then I thought fuck that noise. I saw full well how happy all my old friends who’d gone that route had become. Most were on kid number four and marriage number two, but still at job number one.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The whole place shook. Yeah. You bet I was startled. I sat up and looked around

Boom. Boom. Boom.

A moment.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

It sounded like an earthquake. That’s exactly what I thought it was until I heard other percussive, musical sounds joining in with the loud booms.

I got up off the bed, grabbed my keycard, and made it out to the hallway where I almost slammed into a really young girl with long black hair and an even longer face. “They sure as hell are making sure everyone’s getting involved, whether they like it or not.”

She heard what I said, but didn’t answer back. I didn’t think her mind could comprehend everything all at once, judging from her expression. I shoved past her just as another set of the booms shook us.

I looked around me and saw lots of folks streaming out of their rooms and heading outside.

There was a lot more happening than I thought.

Funny thing? Time felt stretched out and sticky right then, like when you first get up in the morning and can't get your head together, or when you've drunk just enough for things to get hazy.

Most everyone had gathered by the infinity pool. One of the bearded guys sat on the lip of a stage playing a large drum that appeared made from curvy bones and a tanned skin. There were others doing the same.