Evil Origins: A Horror & Dark Fantasy Collection (24 page)

Samuel dashed
left and then right until the tunnel narrowed. He felt it drop downward as
gravity helped propel him forward. Samuel reached out and was able to steady
his gait by using both hands to guide himself deeper into the cave. Several
times, he felt the scree from Mara’s feet hit the back of his legs, which
propelled him faster.

The cavern
twisted and turned, the tunnel clamping down on the two refugees like a slowly
closing iris. The utter and complete darkness kept Samuel from lunging forward
faster than he would have liked, and he wondered how much of a handicap, if
any, this would provide the team of beasts and their undead escorts.

“Wait.”

He stopped,
surprised that words still carried through the dying air of the locality. Samuel
felt the icy touch of Mara’s fingers on his back as she came up behind him.

“Listen.”

They stood in
the black silence, hearing nothing but their own exaggerated breathing.

“Maybe we lost-”

Before Samuel
could finish, a howl penetrated the air and rang in his head with the force of
a thunderous church bell. He knew it was the alpha male, and he knew the pack
was closing the distance.

Mara pushed him,
and Samuel picked up the pace. He felt an aching in his lower back from running
in a crouched position and wondered how long it would take for the muscle
cramps to drop him to the ground in spasms of agony. The chasm continued ever
downward and became more of a pipe than a tunnel. Samuel bounced his head off
the cavern’s ceiling of the rock above, and he was forced to draw his arms in
closer to his body as the walls crept inward. He felt Mara behind him, and he
also felt her impatience. Samuel imagined her thin frame navigating through the
space faster than his, and the frustration she must be feeling as their
pursuers would come upon her first. He pushed on as the jagged edges of the
rock drew blood from his battered knuckles. Samuel led them down another
passage that widened enough to allow him to run in a crouched position. He
heard Mara breathing hard a few feet behind.

The tunnel
dumped them into another open cavern, although it was not as expansive as the
one inside the entrance to the cave. Samuel ran to the center and spun in time
to see the tunnel toss Mara out. She scrambled and stopped next to him, the
expansive space illuminated by an eerie glow coming from the walls. Samuel
thought he could feel the stone lowering in an attempt to snuff him and Mara
from the locality.

The alpha male’s
cry came again, this time closer. Samuel swept Mara behind himself with one arm
as he readied for the onrush of attackers.

Now we
finish and He releases us from our duty.

The alpha male
picked through the passage until his head appeared in the darkness, like a
perversion of a newborn entering the world. The rest of the animal came next,
along with three more wolves. Samuel could not see the horde, but figured they
were on their way as well.

“I don’t know
what you want from me,” Samuel said.

Mara craned her
neck forward, unsure if the comment was for her or not. When she saw the alpha male
and Samuel’s gaze directed at the wolf, she stepped back and listened.

But you do. We
are hunters, and you are our prey.

“And the horde?
What role do the undead play in your hunt?”

Samuel felt a
mental chuckle come from the leader of the pack.

Beacons. Markers
of our prey. They follow the misery and consume what is left behind by the
hunters. The horde will fight for the scraps.

The alpha male
stood seven feet from Samuel, with his hunters forming a semicircle, blocking
the passage leading back toward the surface. Samuel looked over his shoulder
and saw two tunnels on the opposite wall.

You may
enter those, but we will find you.

“The Reversion
is coming, and it will destroy you, too.”

There is
nothing that the sky will bring that will cause us more pain.

“Back in the
cabin. You attacked and I fell through. . . .”

Samuel let his
comment hang, unsure whether or not it was a question he felt the alpha male
could answer.

A minor
slip, within this locality. It only delayed this meeting.

“So you expect
us to lie down while you tear out our throats?” He felt Mara’s hands on his
hips as she moved closer to him.

No, but it
shall come to that.

Samuel shifted,
his muscles tensing and adrenaline flooding his nervous system.

What have
you done with the scarface?

Samuel smiled,
sensing what could be a slight crack in the wolf’s stone will. “Banished. Opened
a portal and sent him through it.”

He will
return. He will come back, as he has unfinished business with you as well.

“Not without
me, he won’t.”

You will go
to him, whether you so desire it or not.

Samuel caught
motion beyond the wolves. He looked at the black velvet curtain of darkness and
saw a humanoid shape breaking through. The first of the horde appeared, one arm
missing and another dangling by a single strand of ligament. The creature’s
head sat askew, with the top portion missing as if one of the pack had torn it
away.

There might
be nothing left for them, should we continue to delay the inevitable.

“I’m not
concerned about that.”

Mara came
closer. Samuel could feel her nervous fingers gripping the back of his shirt.

I am sure
you are not.

“Let’s go,” he
said, turning and pulling Mara with him.

They sprinted
for the tunnel on the left and dashed through the darkness.

You will
tire.

Samuel ignored
the alpha male’s comment and pushed through the passage until it narrowed to a
place where he was forced to drop to his knees. He imagined the pack coming
upon them, lunging with full force while they remained supplicated.

“What did he
say?” Mara asked as they kept moving.

“More of the
same,” he replied.

The passage
emptied into another natural space. This one, however, appeared to be circular,
without a corridor or passage springing from it. Samuel and Mara stood, his
back creaking with the motion. They spun all the way around until they realized
there was no way out. The alpha male padded around several smaller rocks and
stopped, waiting for the rest of the hunters to flank him again.

Now?

Samuel shook
and balled his fists at his sides. Mara walked backward until she felt the
frigid stone on her back like the breath of the dead.

Within moments,
the first members of the horde entered the space and remained behind the alpha male
and his hunters. The subterranean tunnels continued to glow with an ambient
light that allowed Samuel and Mara to see the shapes, but it dimmed
significantly from the aura that had been cast closer to the surface.

“I would rather
try to slip anywhere than let you taste our blood.”

Go ahead.

Samuel closed
his eyes, unsure what mental capacities had opened the portal for Major. He
felt the frustration mount as if he were a diligent pupil disappointing his
teacher. Mara began to cry softly, holding the sobs to her chest with both
arms.

The alpha male
turned his nose to the ceiling and barked at the hunters. They stepped forward
and pressed closer to Samuel and Mara.

Enough. It
is time to finish.

Samuel bent at
the waist and crouched, his feet and shoulders spread. He raised his fists into
position and stepped toward the alpha male. The two warriors moved to the
center of the space while the rest watched.

“Wait,” said
Mara stepping from the wall. “Wait, Samuel.”

He turned to
face her, and the alpha male cocked his head sideways.

“Come here.”

She extended
her hand, palm up. Samuel looked at the alpha male, the hunters, and the horde.
He looked back at her and saw the conviction in her eyes.

“Please,
Samuel. Come here.”

He reached out
and felt the power pulse through his body as their hands locked.

Chapter 15

“Another
round?”

Samuel
blinked and looked down at his hands, which were folded on the polished,
mahogany bar. He blinked again at Mara sitting next to him on the stool. She
wore her hair bundled at the top of her head, curls dangling on her cheek like onyx
earrings. The dark mascara accentuated her eyes, and the red lipstick could
hypnotize any man. Samuel looked at her foundation, delicately applied to her
porcelain skin in a way that defined Gothic beauty. He felt satisfaction,
contentment, even a peaceful calm emanating from her.

“Where are
we?” he asked.

Mara winked
and turned to the burly bartender standing before a wall of mirrors and bottled
spirits. She ignored Samuel’s question and answered the bartender’s.

“Yes. For
both of us,” she replied.

With a swift
swipe of his rag, the bartender smiled and cleared the condensation left by the
previous round. He turned to toil and clang bottles together while ice clinked
in the bottom of the glasses. A thin layer of sweet tobacco smoke hung just
below an intricately carved ceiling. Ornate posts straddled the bar as patrons
moved about.

“Don’t know
the name of the place, but it’s really old. They built the bar before
prohibition and then opened it up again afterward. Most of the place has been
restored. Even the ghosts that haunt it have come back.”

Mara winked,
catching the light in her eyes with a dazzling smile. Her brilliant teeth shone
between ruby lips. Samuel felt mesmerized by her beauty, and yet a deep sadness
seemed to reside below the surface, one that hurt like an ache in his chest.

“You look
stunning,” said Samuel. He felt as though he was gawking at his sister dolled
up for prom.

“Thank you,”
she replied.

Samuel
looked down at her bare shoulders sitting atop a tight, black dress. Mara wore
ankle bracelets and toe rings that glistened in the light.

“Are we
still in the cave?” he asked.

“This is it,
Samuel. Our first and last date, if you want to call it that.”

Samuel felt
his face blush from that awkward feeling again.

“The wolves,
they—”

Mara cut him
off with the wave of a hand. Before she could reply, the bartender returned
with two glasses filled to the brim with sparkling ice cubes suspended in a
clear, amber sea.

“To us. Our
time together, and sadly, our good-byes.”

Mara held
her glass up. Samuel lifted his to the toast and watched her lips caress the
glass. She siphoned half of the drink on the first sip before setting it back
down. People moved about, navigating through the bodies clumped near the bar. Samuel
looked at them looking at him.

“Good-bye?”

“Of course. The
wolves, the horde. Shit, the Reversion. It’s all coming to a head. You know that,
right?”

Samuel shook
his head and rubbed a hand across his chin.

“We can
still say good-bye,” Mara continued. “I’ve always liked this place, and I’ve
always wanted a special little black dress. Shame that I’m only getting it
now.”

“We have to
fight our way out of the cave.”

Mara
snickered and held her hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter, as if trying
not to embarrass Samuel. “You will. You still have work to do. But me, Samuel,
I’m finished. There isn’t anything left for me.”

“But the
portal, a slip, I could—”

“No. No, you
can’t. I’m not leaving the cavern, Samuel. I won’t be able to slip with you and
try my luck in another locality. This is it for me.”

Samuel
looked around again, feeling as though everyone in the bar was about to yell
“surprise” as party hats appeared in the room. He felt the tension of secrecy
and the pain of being left out of it.

“How do you
know that?” he asked.

“I got word.
I know. I’ve done what was asked of me, and now I’m out. That’s how it works. You’ll
see.” Mara drew another sip of liquor over her glistening lips and winked. “Forget
it, Samuel,” she continued. “I can’t explain it to you, and even if I could,
you wouldn’t understand.”

“I’m done,”
he replied, with a serrated edge preceding the words. “The date is over, and
this entire bar can fuck off. Put me back in the cave with the wolves and the
undead.”

“Done with
what?” Mara asked. “That’s one thing about us Americans, right? We want
everything tied up perfectly, no loose ends. We want all the answers and
logical reasons for everything.”

He sat back
as Mara’s eyes began to shed tears from each corner.