Mulish thoughts like waves, moved themselves throughout my mind. Steady acceptance, gradually growing, as the heart of wakefulness steads itself over my mind. Without any further preamble, I feel my eyelids tugging themselves upwards.
I’m in a hospital bed, white, stiff sheets pulling themselves over my chest. Slowly, I look to my right, finding Alyssa and Carter asleep on two different chairs. My mom is laying down on the windowsill bed. Carefully, I tug at the sheet, finding an IV tagged into my arm.
“You’re awake,” A voice says to my left; rapidly, I shift over, staring into the eyes of my father, “If you didn’t already know,” He continues, “That was an Eldritch Demon. They fight by bending the rules of reality. Occasionally, they’ll trap an individual within themselves for centuries. It wasn’t just luck that helped you get through all of that,”
“What was it, then?” I reply, voice surprisingly hoarse.
He smiles, making himself comfortable on the edge of the bed, “It was your Focus, guiding you through the impossible, showing you the fault lines in the reality that it had set up,”
A thought crosses through my head as I stare towards my father, “You’re not just here for polite conversation. Something’s happening,”
Carefully, the smile drops from his face, “Yes. Despite my warning, the collective efforts of all of my children have been incapable of staving off the rising tides of demonic intrusion,” I nodded weakly, having expected such an outcome, “I need you to prepare, the apocalypse is coming, and we need to do everything we can to stop it,” The smile lifted back onto his lips, “I have confidence in you, as I do all of my children; know that much,” With that, he faded into nothing.
Alyssa stirred herself awake, and stared towards me for a silent moment, “He was here, wasn’t he?”
“He was,” I reply, voice a half-croak.
She looks towards me for a silent moment, “When we got separated, in the mirror…I watched Carter get consumed by the eye. I managed to get away from it, and I ran further into the Hotel. Something happened, and I ended up in the middle of a cellar. My, my memory still hasn’t come back, has yours?”
“I didn’t even remember the mirror at first. That’s the only part that’s come back for me,” I replied, staring towards the sheets, “Do you think that the eye like, got into our minds or something?”
She shrugged, “The doctors did a Scan to make sure nothing was wrong up there,” She jabbed lightly at her head, “I think, I think something could’ve happened, like maybe everything that it did happened to rely somewhat on our brain’s to manage, so when it withdrew its influence, we lost part of our memories to it,” She shivered, and went silent for a moment, before adding, “I don’t…I’m fine with Vincent’s ability, because it hides our tracks, makes sure nobody knows about demons and all of that…But I don’t like it when something messes with my mind,”
I replied with a shaky nod, and we waited in silence as the others stirred themselves awake.
In the end, it was Vincent’s arrival that stirred the others. He walked in with five drinks, and a bag of fast foot. Somehow, he was managed to hold a large coffee in one hand, with the bag neatly trapped underneath his fingers. He smiled over at us, and nodded towards me.
“I’m quite glad that you’re okay. You gave us all a mighty scare,”
“That’s an understatement,” My mom replied, grabbing an offered drink.
“Also, I dearly apologize for not buying you something. You’ve been out for the past five days,”
“Five days?” I was far too tired to be surprised.
Vince chuckled lightly before saying, “Yes, five days. Which is why you worried all of us rather greatly,”
I tried to process that, thinking over everything that had happened. That demon had trapped all of us, Vince was trapped outside, Carter and Alyssa were trapped in that strange slime, and I’d been trapped in an endless hallway. In the end, I’d managed to kill it, but a large part of that had been luck. The fact that Carter and Alyssa were alive at all was a series of coincidences and extreme good luck.
Five days I’d been out, five days to heal from whatever the eye had done to me. There were going to be more demons, and the apocalypse was beginning. I couldn’t afford to be as weak as I had been.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I pulled the sheet to the side, and lifted myself up, “How long do I have to be here?”
“The doctors say that when you wake up, they’ll have to run a couple of tests. After that, you should be free to go,” Mom replied, a small smile on her face, “We’ll get you a nice, big dinner then,”
I shook my head, “I…I can’t mom. It turns out that the apocalypse is starting. I need to be with the team, figure out how to work damage control, or whatever we have to do,”
Guilt ran rampant through my stomach at the hurt look that crossed her face, but in the end she nodded, “I understand. I-if you need anything, let me know,”
-7
Carter sat at the other side of the table. The others were all doing their own thing, dealing with demon exposure, and trying to hide the evidence of multiple demon attacks. It seemed everyone was on duty, constantly, which meant a lot more fights happening in broad daylight.
“So, it appears that more demon sightings has caused a lot more…Issues, when it comes to dealing with people,” Carter said across from me.
“I’m assuming this isn’t the regular mental illness side effects?”
He shook his head, “Worst. Listen, you’re not gonna like this, but we need all hands-on deck. Did you mean what you told your mom?”
“I did,” I replied, before quickly adding, “But I need a lot more training. That demon…I only beat it through luck. I need to understand how to use Eldritch Energy, and what it means to pervert the rules of reality,”
Carter was silent for a moment, “Alright. I’ll give you three weeks-worth. Three weeks to figure out how to use your ability. But we need as much help as we can possibly get,”
“I understand,” I said, looking over the meal that we’d bought, “Three weeks, and I’ll be on the job with everyone else,”
The rest of the day passed with steady planning. Carter helped me put my affairs in order, explaining to the rest of the team what I’d be doing for the next three weeks. After that, I was left on my own. I walked through the small apartment that I’d be inhabiting, and tried to figure out what I should do next.
Eldritch energy was all about inducing your will upon nature, and changing it in some important aspect. The problem with that, was most of my Focus was supposed to be impossible to comprehend. Steadily, I tried to walk through the process of how I’d created that first monster. I hadn’t really been thinking, just reacting to the situation at hand. But my power would be practically useless if I was sheerly reactionary.
Steadily, I placed my hands together, focusing on the monster as I remembered it. I felt a familiar swirl of pain pulse itself behind my eyes, before something sticky started to bloom beneath my fingers. Pulling them away, I stared towards the glob of flesh. It pulsed in my hand, and at least three eyes steadily blinked up at me.
Grabbing my glass of water, I poured it over the creature, watching the skin dissolve into a strange, sickly concoction of melted bone and skin. A small shriek passed over the room, and I calmly placed my glass of water back down.
So if I’d created something, I could summon it automatically. Something I would need to forcibly remember, especially considering I’d completely forgotten about the tentacle I could shoot out of my hand. All I needed to do, was figure out how to create other things.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
That first night was spent…Brainstorming. I needed things that could take on monsters consistently, no matter what kind of demon they were, or what their weakness was. In the end, I started thinking about the monsters that I’d fought; more specifically, the second one. If I could make a demon that shot pus from its eye, maybe I could alter that pus, use it to stick a demon in place.
Other designs were scrapped out, such as a demon that spread using oxygen, and specifically targeted demons. The problem with that was the possibility of it just, growing without purpose, spreading over the entire planet. At least with the eye, I could set up some sort of telepathic connection.
There were other ideas, things I wasn’t completely certain on, but certainly hoped would work. Like a blade of bone, which would hopefully be made by fusing the skin of my fingers together, and growing the bones outwards, passed the skin. I would have to think about what traits they would need to exhibit to harden enough to be used as blades, but otherwise I saw it as a possibility. Another would be a bomb of flesh, with almost acid-like properties; where the flesh could be consumed in the acid, but anything that touched it would burn.
After writing all of those concepts down, I quickly found myself succumbing to exhaustion. That day had a been a long one, most of it spent avoiding memories of the fight, and specifically avoiding things that I couldn’t remember.
-7
Morning forced itself over me slowly, small lapping waves of thoughtforms moving their way through my head, and memories forcefully dredged from the corners of my brain. Steadily, carefully, I opened my eyes. What I stared to was no longer my room, but the apartment I was sharing with the other members of my team. Understanding threw itself over me like cold water, and I lifted myself out of bed.
“You’re awake? Finally. Take a shower, get dressed, you’re going with me for today,”
Alyssa stood in the doorway, wearing jogging jeans, a belt with a knife looped on the side, and a sweatshirt. I nodded, pulling myself out of the bed, and staring towards the sack of clothing that sat in the corner. Pulling out a shirt and some jeans, I got myself prepared.
“We’ll be running across the city, taking alleyways and looking for signs of Demonic Activity. We do not engage, but text the other groups in the city. When we make it back to the house, you’ll get an account set up,”
“There’s…” I didn’t quite know how to phrase the question, but Alyssa seemed to understand.
“After, dad, reported the Apocalypse beginning, a website was made. It’s mostly credible, with authentic verification, via…something that dad did. Whatever, we’ll talk about it more when we get back to the house. Now go get ready, Vince’s making breakfast, and you’re going to eat it, even if you have to eat it cold,”
Nodding again, I walked into the bathroom and threw myself in the shower. When I got out, I went about the rest of my daily chores, before grabbing at my phone. Looking over the texts from mom, I sent a quick reply, before rushing into the dining room.
“Just got done,” Vince said with a tired smile.
I smiled back, grabbing a plate that seemed to have been set out for me.
“We’ll be controlling your portions,” Alyssa explained, “Along with your diet. Dependent upon how bad things get, we all need to be in the best shape possible; no telling how long the fights will last, and how long we might have to be on our feet,”
It was sound, so I didn’t have anything to say. Instead, I focused on the meal in-front of me. It tasted bitter, but I couldn’t complain. The apocalypse was here, and if we didn’t act as fast as we could, we’d all likely die. I was lucky enough to have three weeks of training time, and even that was only just so I could be useful.
“Oh,” Alyssa said after a moment, “Carter wanted me to tell you that your training time is being reduced to a week. You’ll need to speed up whatever you’re trying to do,”
“Okay,” I replied, not really surprised.
If my training was being reduced, that meant things were happening; serious threats were emerging. How had the demons not made the news if so many were about? I mean, some people had illusion abilities, but surely things would get out sooner or later…
“Carter said that…Other effects were happening,” I said after a minute, “What did he mean?”
The swallowed a bite of eggs before replying, “It’s people,” She said in lieu of a full answer, “Just trust me when I say you’ll see soon enough,”
“Alright,” I replied, “If it was important information…”
“If it made a difference, we’d tell you right away. Carter doesn’t want you to know immediately, for…Reasons,”
“He doesn’t trust me,” I replied lightly, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice.
Alyssa was silent for a moment, taking three bites before she replied, “It’s not that. Telling you beforehand…You might not be able to stomach what you need to do when the time comes; that’s what Carter thinks, at least,”
I took a moment to stomach that, focusing on my meal until all I had left was crumbs, “I think I’ll defer to his judgement for now, if he thinks that it’s that important,”
“Good,” She said in earnest, “Now let’s go, we have a long routine ahead of us,”
She led me outside, upon which we started the run. At first it was easy, even if the pace she set was a bit faster than I was accustomed to. Halfway through, the stitch in my side propped up, and running became an actively painful activity. By the time we’d looped around, seemed like we were heading back, I could hardly keep up, such was the pain in my legs.
Eventually, she led me through a park, where she found a bench, and sat herself down in it. There, she looked out towards the lake, and took in a deep breath. About five minutes later, I caught up, and practically collapsed on the side of the bench.
“The group will join these exercise routines tomorrow. After your training period, we will continue to go on them. This is where the group will focus on upper body strength,”
I went through the motions of what felt like a nod, but was likely my neck flopping awkwardly; such was my exhaustion.
“Go find a water fountain,”
Getting up, I walked towards the nearest available fountain, which appeared with rust covering the bottom, along with the uppermost metal. I stared for a moment, before calling for Alyssa. She looked towards the decaying fountain, and nodded.
“Ordinarily, I would say it’s just a lack of maintenance, and considering the lack of demonic activity around us…But it’s best to be cautious. I’ll report it,”
“Should you though?” I asked after a moment; at her quizzical look, I continued, “Assuming that there aren’t that many Antis in the city, should we really waste their time with something that could only loosely be a demon attack?”
She was silent for a moment, “I’ll investigate, look for any charcoal. You take a moment to rest,”
I nodded, walking over to the park bench. After a couple of minutes, she came back holding a small little rock.
“Demonic activity is definitely in the area. I’ve given the report,”
After that, our run went on without any interesting activity; beside my body feeling as if it was on the precipice of death. When we got back, Alyssa unlocked the apartment, and brought me to the couch.
“Afterwards, you meditate, or do whatever you need to do to use your ability. We cannot have you with a lack of resources, is that understood?”
Collapsing onto the couch, I said, “Yes, I understand. I already have a couple of ideas that I hope to experiment with,”
When she exited the apartment, I started to think on my first idea. A small version of the floating eye. It wouldn’t be that difficult to create, considering the fact that…eyes weren’t exactly meant to float. The only difficulty would come from the telepathic connection.
First, I needed to make the eye. Focusing on that, I lifted a hand in-front of my face, trying to imagine the exact detail I would need for the eye to take shape. Folding flesh, along with eyelids, and eyelashes, appeared in my mind. Carefully, I tried to use the energy that sat within the pit of my stomach, to bring this creation to life.
I watched as it unfolded right before me. Like a three-dimensional printer in fast-motion. Globs of flesh formed from thin air, connecting tissue and bringing about the construction of a floating eyeball. Putting my full attention upon the eye, I tried to imagine it floating in midair.
To my surprise, the eye took flight, suspending itself in the middle of the living room. A small laugh escaped my lips, and my focus slipped. Immediately, the eye decayed, and splattered across the coffee table. Of course, that’s the exact moment Carter chose to walk in.
“What…” He stood there dumbfounded, staring at the splattered glops of flesh.
I started laughing as I stared at the expression on his lips; it took a full thirty minutes before I managed to explain what had happened.
“So, you’re recreating the eye that we fought,” He replied when I managed to calm myself down, “Why?”
Focusing on the glob of flesh, I managed to make it disappear, “Whatever it used to cause sickness, it also managed to use to trap you and Alyssa,” I explained, “If I can create a miniaturized version of that, which shoots something similar, than I could-“
“Trap demons, or at least delay them!” Carter replied enthusiastically, “That’s fantastic,”
I puffed up a bit at that, “I have a couple of other ideas, but I don’t want to test one of them here. It involves another interpretation of that demon’s abilities,”
He nodded, “We’ll find a space for that later. For now, keep doing what you were doing,”
As he walked further into the apartment, I furrowed my brow and started again. With another eye in the air, I tried to figure out how I was supposed to communicate with it. Furthermore, I didn’t want the eye to decay as soon as my focus broke. I needed something to tether it.
Slowly, I started spindling a tendril of flesh, similar to what I had seen on the eye. After a moment of thought, I found a way to hit two birds with one stone. Carefully, I lifted my hair to the side, and watched the tendril of flesh. Slowly, ever so slowly, I connected it to the side of my head. Inspecting the tendril for a moment, I allowed my concentration to break. The eye splattered upon the floor.
It took a bit more experimentation before I finally got it right. With the eye in the air and the tendril of flesh connected to the side of my head, I began interweaving nerves beneath the skin, and connected it to the side of my skull. After it connected to the side of my skull, I began the most dangerous part of the operation yet. I created a feasible line of connection between the tendril of flesh and my head.
Finally, after what felt like an hour of work, I let my concentration fall again. To my elation, the eye remained floating in midair. Forcibly, I collapsed my creation, and fell back, exhausted.