Evil Origins: A Horror & Dark Fantasy Collection (6 page)

Chapter 6

The next
morning, Samuel found Major sitting on the same chair, rubbing a sharpening
stone over multiple blades. The rhythmic scraping sound annoyed him. The meager
light penetrating the slate skies had returned, signaling a faint resemblance to
the mornings of Samuel’s old life. He reached up to his neck and let his
fingers trace the interlocking spirals of the medallion hanging from the
leather string.

“What’s that?”
asked Major, his eyes making contact with Samuel’s while the sharpening stone
continued working on the blade of a curved knife.

“A triskelion. Some
call it a triskele.”

Samuel
hesitated, surprised that the information was so readily available to his
brain. Major saw the look on his face.

“That
reflection on the wall is starting to jar things loose. Go ahead. I’m sure you
can recall what it is and why you’re wearing it. I’d like to hear about that.”

Samuel paused
and closed his eyes. He could feel the triskelion on his neck and felt the
knowledge seeping back into his head.

“They’re not
sure where it came from, but most archaeologists date it to the European Iron
Age, Celtic in origin.”

“Sounds like
you know what you’re talking about,” Major said as he smiled. “Go on.”

“They had some
evidence that the symbol was used for a very long time, as early as the Greek
and Mycenaean civilizations centuries earlier, but the Europeans assimilated
it. Wales, Brittany, they all used a variation of the form.”

Major waited as
the blade slid back and forth across the stone.

“
QUOCUNQUE
JECERIS STABIT
—wherever you throw it, it will stand.”

“Latin, right?”
asked Major.

“Yes. It’s a
motto on a coat of arms. Olaf the Black.”

Samuel stopped
and rubbed his head. It felt as though a door had opened, one he had struggled
to pry loose from the rusty hinges of his damaged mind.

“Historian? Archaeologist?
Maybe you just read a lot,” said Major.

“Yeah, could
be,” replied Samuel before continuing. “The Nazis corrupted a version for the Third
Reich. I think it represents timeless human symbolism, like the cross.”

Samuel stopped
as the flow of information behind the door became discovered, catalogued. There
was nothing more to unearth, at least during this conversation.

“Nazis. I’ve
seen reflections of them, too. Mostly the swastika on armbands or officer caps.
Not much more.”

“Where did you
see this stuff?” asked Samuel.

Major shook his
head. “My blades are sharp. Got your stuff together?”

***

The two men
stepped out of the cabin and back into their previous locality. Samuel drew a
deep breath and noted that he could no longer smell the pine needles underfoot.
The forest felt as silent as a snowstorm blanketing the landscape. Even the air
felt dead on his skin. He detected an absence of temperature, as if the
locality existed in a vacuum.

Major looked
down into the valley and then back toward the summit, which stuck out over the
chimney of the cabin. He secured his belt and sheath over his left hip, and he
pulled the black headband down over his forehead and nodded at Samuel.

“Reversion.”

Samuel stared
at Major and shrugged his shoulders.

“We’ll have a
lot of time to talk during the hike. I’d rather set off now before the alpha male
returns.”

“Is that why
this place doesn’t have odors, sounds?”

“I think so. This
locality is in a Reversion. Rewind. It’s ‘undoing’ itself. Let’s go.”

Before Samuel
could reply, a lone howl pierced the atmosphere and raised the hairs on his
neck.

“Guess we won’t
have to wait long, after all,” said Major. “Your biggest fan is back.”

***

The wolf glared
at the hunters by his side. The females and cubs would remain behind. He would
not be hampered during the hunt.

They set
forth.

The other
hunters snapped and paced in circles.

Yes. Now
there are two. The old man has returned seeking his escape. We are not to allow
either, as He has spoken. Take the elder down first.

The alpha male
trotted to the edge of the clearing and looked over his shoulder. The other
hunters followed with a burning hunger in their stomachs.

The pack wound
through the trees until the forest thinned with the rising elevation. Their
sinewy bodies moved through the underbrush in silence, the leaves no longer
rustling in the stillness of the air. When the alpha male crested the last
rise, he could see the tip of the chimney protruding from the top of the cabin.

They wait
for us.

He broke into
an even-paced run, with seven hunters in line behind him.

***

“They will
always go for the throat,” said Major.

“Are they
reflections?” asked Samuel.

“I’m not sure,
and I don’t want to find out the hard way. They want you, not me, but they will
attack anything that gets in their way. If they are sentient creatures, they no
doubt feel the Reversion like we do. They’re in self-preservation mode, and
that means they will fight to the death.”

Samuel drew a
deep breath and nodded. Major shoved his hand underneath his coat and removed
another curved blade. He squeezed the blunt edge between his thumb and
forefinger and spun the handle toward Samuel in one motion.

“Ever use one
of these?” he asked.

“Maybe,”
replied Samuel. “I can’t quite remember.”

“The early
Arabs called it a scimitar.”

“Sounds like
you have some history in your background as well,” said Samuel.

Major ignored
the comment and continued. “They’re designed to be light and used to slash in a
diagonal direction, not a stabbing motion. If you strike across the muzzles of
the wolves, you’ll make it impossible for them to clamp their jaws on your
throat.”

That visual
made Samuel shudder.

“And the blade
is extremely sharp. Remember that on your follow through.”

Samuel nodded
in agreement. “What happened to your shotgun?”

“This,” replied
Major, holding two empty shell cases in the palm of his hand. “No sporting-goods
stores around here.”

“What’s our
strategy against the pack?” Samuel asked. “What’s the best way to take them
out?”

“I have no
idea,” replied Major. “I’ve never fought a wolf before.”

Before Samuel could
respond or find a way to deal with his fear, the alpha male appeared from the
edge of the tree line. The creature strutted up the slope with several hunters
following him. His feral, yellow eyes never left Samuel. They seemed to float
through the thick blanket of perpetual dusk that draped this locality.

***

The men stood
shoulder to shoulder with their weapons drawn. A bead of sweat rolled down
Samuel’s nose and dropped to his upper lip as they watched the wolves trot
toward the cabin. The wolves knew that their prey would not run or lock
themselves in the structure this time.

The young
one is mine.

The other
hunters whined and gathered to the left of the alpha male. They spread out
until they formed an arc that faced the old one, and the alpha male fanned out
to the right until his trajectory aligned with the young one. They stopped
twenty yards from the cabin. Several of the wolves snarled and began throwing
their heads toward the sky. The alpha male felt the lunar itch. He searched the
heavens for the celestial body, but could not locate it. Millions of years of
evolution, interrupted by the Reversion, left him feeling out of sync,
distraught. He shook his head and picked up the pace toward his prey.

***

“I’m
ready.”

“You’d better
be,” replied Major. “The alpha male wants you all for himself.”

Before Samuel
could say another word, he saw the rest of the pack spring into a run toward
Major. Through the corner of his eye, he saw a blaze of fur, teeth, and those
yellow eyes. Major bent his knees and raised his arms, ready to slash at the
first beasts to reach him.

Samuel glanced
back and noticed that the alpha male had closed the gap and was within an arm’s
reach of him. He dropped to his knees and raised the scimitar as the alpha male
lunged over his head. He felt the movement of air caused by the beast and
rolled over. Samuel jumped and spun in the opposite direction as the wolf came
back at him. The creature paused and bared its teeth, and Samuel felt a
stabbing pain in the middle of his head. Pressing a palm to his forehead, he
could feel the existence of another inside, like a cancerous intruder.

I must
devour you. I must honor His command or I will die with this world.

Samuel felt the
words enter his mind rather than his ears. He blinked and looked at the alpha male.

“Why?” he
asked.

You are my
reflection.

Samuel shook
his head and raised the knife to a defensive position. The alpha male took
three long strides forward and stopped. He bared his teeth at Samuel before
darting off in the other direction, toward the rest of the pack surrounding
Major.

The other
hunters pushed Major back against the rear wall of the cabin. He stood with a
knife in each hand and a wicked smile on his face. The wolves, ears up, pinned
him there until the alpha male came up from behind.

“I’m waiting,”
Major said to the wolves.

Take him.

The hunters
lunged forward. One locked its jaw around Major’s ankle while another reeled
back from the slash that opened its throat. The wolf died before it hit the
ground. Another wolf bit into Major’s left arm while two more flanked the alpha
male. Major brought the blade in his right hand across his body until it
slashed the muzzle of the wolf on his arm. He heard a whine and felt the
pressure release on his wrist, followed by the warming pain of torn flesh. He
used the heel of one boot and brought it down on top of the head of the wolf
latching to his ankle. The animal let his leg loose and stumbled into the wall
of the cabin.

The alpha male
howled, and his two sentries ran at Major. One leapt at his throat while the
other bit at the injured ankle. Major cried out as the wolf’s teeth snapped at
his chin. He turned in toward the cabin wall in a desperate attempt to knock the
animals loose. When Major dropped to his knees, the alpha male came forward. He
opened his mouth, and his eyes flared yellow in the disappearing light. The wolf
reared back on its hind legs, ready to lunge.

Samuel came
around the corner as the alpha male leapt at Major. He felt his breath catch as
he realized that when the wolf finished with Major, he would be next. Major caught
the wolf on his chest, with the weight of the beast spinning him to one side
and knocking him backward over a downed tree limb. The mixture of man and beast
rolled to a stop. Samuel had his hands around the wolf’s neck, his fingers
gripping fur while the alpha male snapped at his face. With his upper body
pointing down the slope, Samuel brought both legs up and in front of the alpha male
until the back of his calves rested on the wolf’s head. In one motion, he
brought his legs back, heels first, driving the beast to the ground. Samuel
heard the yelp and the cracking of bone on the hard earth, and he stood and
kicked the alpha male in the ribs. He felt a surge of adrenaline at the beast’s
cry and realized there was hope. The wolf jumped up and ran toward the tree
line with one rear leg dangling in painful limbo.

As he watched
the alpha male run, Samuel began to pursue the beast before he heard another
scream from Major. He winced as the white underside of the alpha male’s tail
disappeared beyond his sight.

We are not
finished.

Samuel felt
threatened by the thought, but he had to put it aside for now. He spun and ran
around the cabin until he saw two wolves wrestling with Major’s arms. He
grabbed one by the mane and realized his knife had fallen during the skirmish
with the alpha male. The glimmering blade rested near one of the steps, and Samuel
lunged for it and spun with the sharp edge out, slicing an ear off the
attacking wolf. The animal cried out and scratched at the stump with one paw. Samuel
knelt and sliced horizontally through the air, his blade cutting through the mangy
fur and major arteries of the wolf. It flopped to the ground while blood poured
from its neck. By this time, Major had maneuvered on top of the last remaining
hunter and had his knife raised high, ready for the plunge.

Samuel took a
step closer, staring at the carnage left by the battle with the pack. When he
bent down to examine the tail of one wolf, another memory filled his head.

“He’s gone
now, honey,” came the smooth, reassuring voice of his mother.

“Where?”
asked Samuel, a boy of five in the memory.

“Up to
heaven, with God.”

Samuel
squeezed his wolfie doll tight. He inhaled the scent of stuffed animal and the
smell of his bedsheets.

“Maybe Grandpa
wants wolfie doll with him.”

Samuel’s
mother smiled. She dabbed the corner of each eye with a balled tissue.

“He’d want
you to keep wolfie, hon. Grandpa won’t need him in heaven. God will give him
everything he needs.”

Samuel
nodded. He looked down again at the corpse of his grandfather lying in the
casket. The white, satin lining made it appear as though the man was floating
within a cloud. Samuel noticed the wedding ring and yellow, tobacco-stained
fingertips of the man who had always given him spare nickels pulled from his
pockets. Samuel thought about the way the coins felt warm in his palm.

“Will he get
his smokes in heaven?” Samuel asked.

“He will,”
replied his mother.