----------------------------------------
BEYOND The G|A|T|E
CHAPTER TWO: RISE UP
----------------------------------------
Despite the deafening sound from before, the world fell silent. The cool night air turned to razors, battering John and creating storms of dust in the rubble. The crackling of the blood and dust in his lungs served as a morbid drumline for this disastrous event. John looked on in horror with bated breath as the gate swung open. Within a swarm of storm clouds and flares of lightning dancing across the night sky an entity emerged. And all at once reality came crashing down. The blood curdling screech of the gate returned interrupted briefly with cracks of thunder and what can only be described as a war call. Like a church bell it rang out. Ding.................Dong.......................Ding! The ringing wouldn’t stop, nor did it get louder, it just went on and on incessantly. The beast slowly made its debut. Its slick and greyish purple exterior glistened with each flash of lightning and pulsed with every crack of thunder. Slowly but surely, it extended its fleshy tendrils and tentacles down towards the ground. John instinctively moved himself backwards using what little strength he could muster. There’s no end to that thing, John thought to himself. The ground began to rumble and shake beneath John’s feet. The creature, just as massive and giant as the gate itself began to bring its full weight down upon the Earth. Spiraling, the beast spread its tentacles revealing its gaping maw. A black abyss of a mouth surrounded by a writhing, pulsating mass of tentacles and fleshy tendrils. It moved even closer to the ground.
The maw was looming in the sky above. They say that the opposite of love is hate, but that couldn’t be more wrong. The silence was loud and undisturbed in John’s psyche. He struggled to his feet, wincing in pain and agony. He shouldn’t be moving about with his injuries yet still a voice inside screamed at him to run. He could only hobble forward, continuing to look up at the being that enveloped the night sky above him. Each crack and tremble in the ground below threatened to knock him down. Panting like a rabid dog he rushed forward dragging his feet. The world around him became a blur, all he could see was silhouettes of concrete rubble illuminated by the flickering light of flames and sparks. There were probably more than a few live wires strewn about the ruins of the school campus. Out of the frying pan...into the fire. John began a fit of coughing, putting even more strain on his already battered lungs. The air was filled with smoke. The most foul-smelling odor you could imagine, it was sickening. John wretched as he continued his tired trek. An occasional glance upward offered no sense of reassurance for John. The beast’s maw loomed in the sky, nearly eclipsing the night sky. If it weren’t for all the adrenaline in his system right now, he probably would have had a heart attack at the sight of the monstrosity. His heart pounded relentlessly in his chest; he was practically shaking.
Gulp. Staring into what was supposedly this creature’s mouth, the night seemed to get darker and darker around it. With a loud boom, one of the creature’s many tentacles hit the ground. The aftershock caused John to stumble and fall, slashing his ankle in the process. Just narrowly escaping impaling himself on a piece of exposed rebar, he hit the ground hard. Reeling in pain, he clutched at his side. His blood was pooling and soaking through his white school shirt. Sprawled out on his back, John was once again face to face with the greyish purple mass in the sky above him. Shrouded in dust and smoke, illuminated by flames, he continued to cough up blood. His royal blue jacket was in tatters, face covered in small cuts and bruises and layered in sweat and dirt. The ground around him started to crack and shake as the creature’s tentacles and tendrils continued to pierce the ground. The air was heavy. It was almost as if the monster was exerting some kind of force on the world around it. John felt the full brunt of this pressure right in his chest. He could barely breathe before because of the smoke and his injuries but now, it was like he was actively suffocating. Nevertheless, he didn’t even have the strength to gasp for air. The fires and whatever that noxious odor was were closing in on him. If this is the end for him...then so be it. He didn’t care anymore.
“I’m sorry...Mia, Patrick, Sarah, Connor, Alyssa....Emily,” John cried, his words only a faint whisper.
The tears ran down his face as the emotion washed over him in waves. He stared at the monster in the sky, its vestige becoming a blurry mess. Eyes closed, he tried to calm himself. But the tears kept coming and coming. They wouldn’t stop. How could they?
“I don’t want to die,” He wailed.
“You’ll be okay, John,” A voice from his past called out to him. “Get up John...I know you can.”
John started muttering to himself, “I—I don’t have,” he trailed off. “I have nothing left,” His eyes started to get heavy.
“P—Please John, get up. You’re strong,” The familiar voice pleaded.
John started breathing heavily, despite the pressure bearing down on him. The flames were closing in. “I can’t,” he replied, attempting to move his weak body.
“GET...” the voice started to echo loudly in his mind. It called out to him, desperately.
John clawed at the dirt beneath him, clenching his fist. He knew he should probably get up, even if he couldn’t find the strength right now. Even if there’s only a slim chance of him surviving this, he had to try. For the sake of everyone he knew, he had to persevere. He wheezed out a tired breath.
“GET. UP!”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“I don’t want to die,” John said, steeling his resolve. He repeated it over and over and over and over again. He said it until he believed it himself. He threw a fist in the air as a sign of his declaration.
“I’m not gonna die here,” He shouted at the top of his lungs, ignoring the pain.
John wiped his face, drying his tears. He slowly began to struggle to his feet.
“You’re strong, John,” his mother’s words lit a fire in him. In this moment, John felt like he could do just about anything. “Go, John!”
Wiping his eyes again as he staggered his feet, he felt a bone-chilling wind sweep over him, the blood in his veins ran ice cold. Despite being surrounded by flames, he felt no heat whatsoever. He looked around at his surroundings, through all the rubble and destruction and even up in the sky with the gaping maw above him, something was off. There was a bright blue haze that covered the area. It sparkled and glowed, moving like a sea of clouds winding up into the sky and disappearing into its maw. The glow even came from the cracks and holes caused by all the rumbling and shaking. It floated in the air like little particles of light or fireflies on a summer night. Reaching out his hand, slowly, John waved it through a stream of particles. AUGH!! It stung...bad. It was like he was getting shocked but with whatever this was bouncing around inside his body like pins and needles as it flowed through his hand and arm. John gripped his wrist. What the hell is this? The mysterious energy began to flow around him and cover his body, almost as if it was attracted to him. The pain persisted but his energy and strength also seemed to be returning slowly. John took another glance at the behemoth looming above him, bracing for impact as it jabbed at the ground with its tentacles. So that’s it.
A small smirk tugged at John’s lips. He bolted through the flames, his tattered jacket flowing in the wind. Hands outstretched; John made sure to absorb as much of this strange energy as possible. It stung like hell, but he never felt a rush quite like this before. Bathed in blue light, he was a comet rolling through the ruins of Newport High. As John ran, he remembered that faithful night once more. He was finally awake; it was warm. He didn’t remember much from before that. The flames were all around him, drawing nearer but he could barely stay awake, the fumes were so strong. And everything was so loud, but he could hear his mother’s voice clearly. Begging and pleading with him to get out of the car. John shook his head rapidly, damn...it really should’ve been me. These thoughts started to creep into his head. Deep down, he just wanted to run away. But of course, John knew that his mother wouldn’t forgive him if he turned his back on the people he cared about. Even so, he couldn’t shake that painful memory; it was the last he saw of his mother and in that moment all he could do was watch, crawling away as the car was fully engulfed in flames. The only family he had ever known, snuffed out just like that.
Chuckling through a forced smile, John continued running until he encountered a pillar. Or rather, what appeared to be a pillar. It was one of the creature’s tentacles, lodged deep in the ground. The appendage towered into the sky, its exterior glistening under the glow of the strange energy emanating from the ground. The way the tentacle burrowed into the ground with such force, it was like it was extracting the energy like some kind of excavator. The ground around it had deep fissures and crevices. Some appeared to go down for multiple feet. John watched as the creature’s appendage pulsated whilst it moved underground, causing light tremors. With every movement the blue particles were thrust into the air, floating in a glowing blue mist up towards the beast’s waiting maw that still loomed overhead. A thought crept its way across John’s mind. What if he could intercept all that energy before it could be eaten by the creature? Most certainly an intrusive thought, there’s no way in hell he could ever even hope to stop that thing from having its feast. Hell, he didn’t even understand anything at all right now, from the energy flowing around him that felt like cold static in his veins to the giant tentacle monster appearing from a gate in the sky. He threw his head back before catching it in his palms. He felt so small, in the face of this behemoth. Not knowing whether or not his family and friends are even still alive...it made him sick to his stomach. Despite all the adrenaline in his system, he still was overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety. How could he be running around like this when his family and friends could be fighting for their lives on the brink of death. Pulling at his hair, he started to shout at the top of his lungs, calling out to anyone who could hear.
It’s all your fault. John stared at the tentacle in the ground. “You don’t even know half the pain you caused,” he started to talk to himself in anger. Clawing his face, he clenched his fist. He felt that ice cold feeling in his body again as he took a deep breath. Then he swung, delivering a mean right hook to the tentacle in front of him. The impact was loud and heavy, emitting a flash of blue light and shockwaves that echoed into the night. It was like someone had just set off a small bomb. The tentacle started to writhe in the ground, causing more rumbling and tremors. Instinctively, John leapt backwards. But he was shocked to find that he had jumped back almost ten feet at least.
“What the hell?” The sheer disbelief was evident in his voice. Shocked, he examined his hand he felt a faint stinging sensation. That can’t be right. That thing is basically a stone pillar. John acted out of anger, without thinking. He didn’t expect this at all. Just what exactly is going on here? Glancing back in the direction of the tentacle’s direction, he could see that a small chunk of the creature’s flesh was missing. A smile started to form on his lips. Yeah, take that you damn monster. But his celebration was cut short as the tentacle started to rise out of the ground. Its movement speed shook John to his core. While in the sky the tentacles seemed to move at a snail's pace. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Like an anaconda ready to strike, the tentacle stabbed at John.
“F—,” John barely dodged, leaping onto the ground. The tentacle still managed to stab another hole in his uniform jacket. Upon closer inspection, the tentacle didn’t have suckers like you would expect but countless eyes, that looked in all directions. Scrambling to his feet, John ran as fast as his feet could carry him, reaching speeds he never thought possible. As he ran, more tentacles emerged seemingly out of nowhere. Blindsided, he gets struck by one of the tentacles, sending him flying. John’s body bouncing off the ground, kicking up dust and smoke along the way. He could hear his bones cracking on impact. Before he could process what happened, another tentacle flicked him into the air like an insect. John couldn’t even scream in pain; all he could do was wheeze with the wind knocked out of his lungs. Looking down at the ground many stories below, he could see the entirety of the destruction caused by the beast. Fortunately, a good chunk of the school was still intact. Maybe all wasn’t lost after all. Then he was hit by a brick wall, slamming him down onto the roof of what remained of the school building. John barely braced for impact. But to no avail, the tentacle hit his body directly, if it wasn’t for all the energy he absorbed...he would have died. Even still, he could feel the bones in his face cracking. But John was determined; with his heart rate through the roof and missing more than just a few teeth, he was going to make this monster think twice about messing with his town. He had no idea what triggered it the first time, but he had to try again.
“I’ll...blow you to smithereens,” John declared. A last hoorah as the creature's tentacles moved to eliminate the threat. He raised his one good arm; the other one was broken. He hoped to focus the remaining blue energy that he had stored and release it all in one final blast. Steeling his resolve, he soon felt the ice-cold chill from before. The tentacles moved in faster and faster. They were like blurs in the night sky.
“Go to hell, you bastard!”
Suddenly, in a flash of deep blue light the color of lapis lazuli, all the tentacles were eviscerated, a shadowy figure emerging from the aftermath.
“Huh?”