The Eye of Madness (40 page)

Barbara squinted into the glowing faces of her girls with a blank expression. Her vacant stare soon morphed into a loving smile of recognition.

“My girls,” she croaked. As much as they had tried to get fluids in her, she was on the verge of dehydration.

He tried to be patient as the girls doted over their mother, but he couldn't stand it any longer. Cecil stepped forward. “Sweetheart, how do you feel?” he asked.

Barbara smiled at him. “Better now,” she squeaked, then held up her arms for him to come and join in the reunion.

Cecil wasn't sure how long they embraced, but it wasn't long enough. He was overjoyed to have his wife back. He wondered if Barbara remembered what happened to her in the darkness. He knew better than to dwell on it. She was back. She was the same old Barbara in most respects, but in one way she was different. The haunted emptiness behind her eyes was all the proof one needed. She did remember and would never forget.

Sometime in the middle of their emotional reunion, an explosion tore through the night air. It occurred about sixty miles south on Interstate 95. A large limousine burned and smoldered for hours since everyone who wasn't dead was now relocated. There was no one available to respond. The charred bodies inside would remain there for a few days until discovered. There were no Impals at the scene, only fire, smoke, and darkness.

Rebekah sat up as people began to stumble past her. Everyone who was able got up and rushed to the door of the tent. She felt a strong need to find out what was happening. Before she could beg someone to unfasten her restraints, three individuals entered the tent. Her heart leapt with delight when she saw the smiling face of Malakhi. He walked toward her followed by the other two persons. Her son's return so absorbed her, she didn't notice the others at first. When she tried to focus, she found it difficult at first. The individuals emitted a very bright light. As the last horrific screams of the darkness faded, one of them spoke. Tears of joy sheeted down her face when she recognized the voice. “Hello my dear, I'm so pleased to see you,” her father, Nehemya, said.

“Dad!” She shrieked and tried to embrace him, yet she could not move.

Nehemya touched her arms and feet, releasing her bonds. She sprang up and hugged him. There was the same sensation of warmth and cold as before, only there seemed to be a lot more warmth. As she hugged her father and sank into his form, she felt more happy and secure than she had in a long time. She felt Malakhi grasp her leg so she bent down and picked him up so he could join in the embrace with his grandfather.

“Dad, I am so glad to see you. Where have you been? Are you okay?”

“I have been close,” Nehemya whispered in her ear. “I have been so close, yet so far away.”

“I missed you, Saba,” Malakhi said.

“I missed you too, my little man,” he said. “I could see you, you just couldn't see me. You have been brave and strong protecting your mother.”

Malakhi and Rebekah both pulled back and frowned at Nehemya.

“How did you see us? We saw you vanish,” Rebekah asked.

“It felt strange at first when I disappeared. It really wasn't much different than the way it was before the storm arrived,” he said, then disgust washed across his face. “I could see them,” he said and glanced sideways at the third person.

Rebekah turned and gasped in surprise. The last time she saw Gestas was in her head. Now he stood in front of her. The only difference now was he boasted the same luminescent glow as Nehemya. Gestas was now an Impal.

“I guess redemption is possible,” she said with a sheepish smile.

Gestas did not speak, he nodded and stared at his feet. After a time, he said, “Yes it is. Thank you for your help … both of you,” he said, patting Malakhi's head.

Rebekah nodded. She wanted to thank him for helping them, but here was something else she wanted to ask. “So, the darkness is gone?”

Gestas nodded.

“Back to where they came from?”

He nodded again. “Yes, they are all gone.”

“It was terrible to see the true face of those souls dwelling in the shadows,” Nehemya said. “I am glad you made it out, sir. Thank you for taking care of my family.”

Gestas felt guilty for accepting thanks. There were a few times where he almost snapped and reverted to his former nature. The fact he even considered those temptations left a bad taste with him. He didn't feel worthy and perhaps he wasn't; yet he had managed to gain his freedom from the void. He did something right. Gestas smiled and then walked across the tent to give the family some private time together.

The small family pulled apart and walked to the door. They stepped out into the bright pre-dawn air. Rebekah was overwhelmed by what she saw outside.

CHAPTER 43

THE IMPALS

“O, come, be buried A second time within these arms (They embrace)”

~William Shakespeare, Pericles

Carmella sat up and shielded her eyes from the blinding light coming in through the windows. David got up and sprinted out the door. The rumbling sounded like an enormous stone rolling away from a tomb, a stone large enough to cover the entire planet. The odd thing is, Carmella found it comforting. She sprang to her feet and trudged toward the door with her hand cupped over her eyes. She could see several people in front of her, all crowding around the front door of the building.

Many people gathered around the door. They all talked with excitement and pointed outside. Carmella stepped forward and peered over the shoulder of a short, balding man. She cried out and clasped her hand over her mouth. Her whole body trembled. A countless multitude of Impals milled about outside. They surrounded the building, stretching all the way to the forest. They seemed lost and confused. Carmella elbowed her way past the others and exited into the middle of the ghostly throng.

“Steff!” she called. “Steff, honey; are you here?”

The Impals surrounding her said nothing, they all kept moving. It was as if all of them were trying to get somewhere, yet none of them knew where they were going. Carmella continued to call for Steff until she was hoarse. As she was about to give up, she felt a cold hand grasp her elbow. She turned around, expecting to see Steff's smiling face. Instead, she received the shock of her life.

“Mom?”

She had not seen her mother for almost twenty years, when she passed away with Alzheimer's disease. After the storm arrived, Carmella assumed her mother had moved on.

“Yes baby, it's me,” she said as silvery tears dripped from her round cheeks. “I have so wanted to see you for such a long time.”

Carmella threw her arms around her mother and squeezed hard. She ignored the warm cold sensation as she relished having her mother back.

“Where were you? I never heard from you after the storm arrived,” Carmella said.

“I was at our home, honey. I never left it.”

“But … why didn't you contact me?” Carmella asked. She knew the question was a stupid one as soon as the words left her mouth.

“I didn't think your boss would like it too much,” her mother said.

“Oh my God!” Carmella exclaimed. She forgot where she was for a moment. “Where is he?”

Carmella's mother responded through gritted teeth. Her luminescent glow seemed to shine red for a moment. “I hope he is burnin' in Hell,” she muttered. She then turned and pointed at the hangar. “He is out there, deader than a doornail.”

Carmella was dumbstruck.

“Dead?” Carmella repeated, a little surprised at how pleased she sounded.

“Yes,” her mother said. “I guess this last part of the storm moved on just in time, takin' those foul excuses for souls with it, includin' your boss.”

A hundred questions spun in Carmella's mind, but one came to the forefront. “The dark is gone?” she asked. She suddenly realized that where she was standing would be pitch dark now if not for the light of the Impals.

“A few minutes ago. It was like a mess of frightened snakes slitherin' into a hole. I guess the hole is the doorway between here and where they come from. The opening closed up tighter than a frog's butt once they were all in.”

“You could see them?” Carmella asked.

Her mother nodded. “Every God forsaken second they were here. I hope to never see nothin' like it again.”

“You said Garrison is dead?” Carmella asked again.

Her mother nodded.

“How?”

“Not really sure,” her mother said. “Heard he got a taste of his own medicine.”

Carmella was about to ask another question when her mother interrupted.

“I think the little girl you were callin' for is out there. I saw her ride in with you in that big ol' car a couple of hours ago. She made a beeline out there.”

“Steff!” Carmella shouted, then took her mother by the hand to lead her to the hangar.

Her mother pulled her hand through Carmella's, almost making her stumble forward.

“No baby, you go on ahead. I'll be right here waiting when you get back,” she said.

Carmella gave her mother a hug. “I'll be back, Mom. Please don't leave,” she said before turning and trudging through the multitude of Impals. Light penetrated the crack between the hangar doors. Carmella focused on it and pushed through without courtesy as she passed through a number of Impals.

Mary stood on the dark perimeter of Jack's base. Her former host, Donna, lay a few feet away under a tree. She stirred as she tried to sit up. Mary knelt and spoke softly.

“I'm sorry I had to do that,” she said. “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You will never know how much you helped me.”

Donna's eyes widened at the sight of a glowing Impal woman dressed in the clothing of sixteenth century British royalty.

“Where are my parents?” Donna whispered.

“I don't know dear. When I found you, you were not in a very pleasant place.”

She sighed and then placed her hand on top of Donna's head. The girl flinched at the cold touch.

“You had so many chemicals in your body when I found you, I'm surprised you are still alive.”

Donna frowned. She remembered some things, but not all. The drugs had robbed her of a great deal of her memories since leaving her parent's house a few months earlier. She could almost remember her home. Her head had not been this clear in a long time. Her craving for the poison was no longer present. She found she didn't want another hit, another blow, or another drink. Donna wanted something to eat, and she wanted to go home.

Mary stopped stroking the girl's head and turned to the prison a short distance away. Screams erupted through the thick walls again. Jack sounded as if he was frightened out of his mind. Where Mary and Donna watched was still dark. The area around the prison and many other buildings on the base glowed with the light of several hundred Impals. They were back, but wandering.

“Poor Jack,” Mary said with sincere empathy. “I really hoped he would see his errors and atone.” She paused and then rubbed her chin. “I don't see why he is so distraught. The dark is gone and surely a man like him is not afraid of Impals.”

Mary was right. Jack was not afraid of Impals, at least not every day, run of the mill Impals. What she did not know was that Jack always kept a small tether to the dark void, as most dark souls. In fact, everyone has the tether. The ignorant and arrogant were just more responsive to it than others. It was not a permanent pipeline, but rather like a party line for the darkness to speak if the conditions were right. The line was cut for Jack and he felt alone and terrified. This was enough to make him uncomfortable, but not enough to send him into a frenzy. What horrified Jack was that his sins were revisiting him, in the most literal sense of the word.

The Impals of seven elderly women stood inside Jack's jail cell. They did not regard him with anger or hatred, they moved past these emotions. The women, who now appeared a little younger than they had in the last days of their lives, spoke to him in one unifying voice.

“
Why
Jack?”

He did not answer. The only thing he knew was he would kill them again if he could. Screw them all. The damn wretches got what they deserved and the world was better for it. He did not intend to give them an answer or an apology. Jack cowered under his bed with a pillow clasped tight over his eyes and ears. He wanted them to go away, he wanted those stupid old diseased skanks to leave him alone.

“Oh, what I wouldn't give for a good iron bar right about now,” Jack thought. “I would teach them a lesson.”

The women did not stay long. Seeing Jack in this state was enough for them. They knew he would never repent or confess his evil acts. He was too arrogant. They would have to do it for him. None of them moved on because they thought it necessary to stay behind to stop Jack. They were unable to act before because they were rounded up shortly after the storm arrived and shipped to an island in the Channel. During the dark period, they were able to make their way back to the base where they waited and watched Jack. There were six in all, now seven after joining with Matilda, the poor lady who Jack put in his cage the day the darkness arrived.

The women passed through the jail wall as Jack continued his infantile screaming. As Mary and Donna watched from afar, the women walked up the narrow path to the base commander's office. Justice would be done, they would see to it.

Seth Pendleton had been playing with some new friends. He was in the back of the hangar and away from the terrible and triumphant events at the Tesla Gate. He did not see the gruesome deaths of Avery Cooper, Sam Andrews, and Ott Garrison. Nor did he see the miraculous recovery made by Barbara Garrison. Seth had matured since his exodus with his father through the Tesla Gate. Thomas wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. Maybe it was a result of living on the next level of existence for a while.