Lacuna's Point by Tim Meyer

Author:Tim Meyer [Tim Meyer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DarkLit Press
Published: 2023-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

The four of them hustle down Main Street. Mitch glances over his shoulder at the diner, trying to peek at whatever’s going on over there, but in five minutes it doesn’t matter—the shoppes swallow the view.

They follow Josh down the street, putting distance between them and Eddy, and Mitch can’t stare at the enormous clock tower for very long without having dread and despair press down on him, a suffocating truth that smothers him with the knowledge that he’ll never see anything outside the town’s limits again. He’ll never see home. He’ll never see his wife, his daughters. And hell, he’ll never get the chance to write that damned novel.

Silly thoughts to have when so much is happening, but he’s torn from those notions when what sounds like a scream hits the airwaves. Mitch stops. Turns back. Faces the diner’s direction once again.

“What is it?” Ellie asks.

“You didn’t hear that?” Mitch tunes out the other people scurrying past them, going about their workday, and listens for another shrill outburst. It doesn’t come. “I heard someone scream.”

“Let’s keep moving,” Josh says to them.

“Where’re we going?” Mitch asks, abandoning everything behind him, focusing on what lies ahead. “I mean, what the hell are we doing here?”

Josh shrugs in an Isn’t it obvious? way. “You heard Darla. The Mayor’s men are after us.”

“How do we know she’s telling the truth?”

Marissa steps in. “Darla’s different.”

“How?” Mitch snorts. “I mean, seriously? How is she different? She’s not like us—that’s for damn sure.”

“She warned us. She’s not one of them, trust me.” Marissa glances suspiciously at the passerby. “You can almost tell that about people when you meet them.”

“We shouldn’t be discussing this out in the open,” Josh says. “Too many ears.”

Mitch has half a mind to turn back and discover what the scream was all about. “This feels wrong.”

“We need to hide out somewhere. Until this blows over.”

“Blows over?” Mitch can’t believe what he’s hearing. “This isn’t going to blow over.”

Ellie steps in. “Mitch is right. We can keep running, but eventually…they’ll find us.”

“You don’t want them to find you,” Marissa says. “That’s the point.”

“So, we what?” Another incredulous laugh escapes him. “Run forever?” He shakes his head. “Nah, fuck that.”

“What if they kill you?” Josh asks.

Mitch puts his hands on his hips. “They wanted us dead, don’t you think they would have killed us by now?”

“Fair point,” Josh says, scratching his head.

“They let us in here for a reason. And I’m going to that clock tower to find out why.” He nods over his shoulder, back at Eddy, the towering structure that sits in the same position it had when they first arrived. The sun shines upon it, highlighting the structure in this golden, sparkling glow. Despite this angelic representation, the tower still inspires a nest of anxiety in the center of Mitch’s chest. “I’m going there, and I’m going to meet the Mayor.”

“Oh Jesus fuck,” Marissa says, looking away. “That’s…that’s like a really bad idea, man.”

No one else says anything for a few seconds.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.