>> The Dark Behind The Dark

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Waves of brutal rain slam me into walls and doors. Shoving me into buildings, then sucking me back. I scream, and claw, as Demon grabs me again - dragging me along the road ringing the edge of the megaTower. Pushing me on, and on. Directly along the edge of that howling maw, where once were windows and weather displays. The protection long gone - salvaged or shot out. Now gappy, and broken, like old man's teeth. The still-covered parts are almost worse than the open ones - forming tunnels of wind that hit like a hammer to the face. Blasting us down the cliff-top street. The shops all weathered and wrought with rust.

The storm, tonight, is massive.

It never ends. It never breaks. But it swells, and ebbs, and roars - and today it rises to consume the whole world with fury. Transforming bullet-hard rain into a sheer, blinding, tsunami that scrubs away everything beneath it.

And it’s only getting worse.

And.... behind us....

Shadows pour up to flood the brick in a living liquid - venomous, and slithering. A Dark deeper than anything out there, in the inky-black storm. A Dark that devours everything electronic - every sign, every shutter and defence - in a vast roar of sparks. Blowing out colourful frontages, lights, parked ships, and airBikes. Erasing the light and life of the tower, and reclaiming it all for the Eternal Black that drapes our midnight world.

And so we run. and run.

Battered across the slick red-lit brick by the driving roar of The Eternal Storm. Wind catching me again, and again, as we stumble past more missing glass. Empty depths whispering, whispering, beneath. Beckining me toward them...

Into their embrace.

'If you fall', they seem to promise, 'the Nightmare Thing won't get you'....

"No.... No.... I won't. I can't....." A Korean bar, ahead, tucked away in a glass-shielded section. Glowing with life and promise.

With people.

I stutter toward it, ready to bolt inside - but Kami catches my other arm. Locking me rigid with hateful touch. "Dead end!!" She screams, grim duty etched into her pinched face as she pushes me forward. Carrying my screaming - panicking - body.

"NO! NO!" I bite at her on reflex, but she's all armour. All metal.

There's no flesh to be had.

Behind us, the bar-sign explodes in a torrent of sparks and cruel laughter - all its song shut off. My heart thudding, wildly, as something formless and inky is outlined by billowing motes of light, soon quenched by The Storm. A thing with a metal-toothed smile, trailing a coat full of holes....

"Little children.... boys and girls....."

I hurl myself faster. Shutting the eye closest to The Maw, and turning my head away. Storm-waters crashing across my hands. Licking my nose, my ankles, my fingers and feet. Flecking my skin with sharp little kisses. Hurricane winds lashing my tail into a streamer as we're hurled one way - then slam my cheeks with the force of a slap. Smacking it down beneath the wet flag of my cloak.

And all the while, The Shadows rise. Boiling up from that endless Hell of tumbling dark beyond the broken windows. Transmuting its empty void into a well of sharpened teeth, fit to drink the soul right out of you. The world ahead is bright, vibrant, packed with life. But every second, like a bad dream, that line of neon light flees further from our feet. Every micron closer, sees another section fail. Whole sections dying, as if washed away by the rain. I grab Demon’s arm, jabbing a claw down a narrow - twisted - alley. A ruby mile of red-hot sin. Of metal limbs, and raw flesh. Of come-hither tentacles, and…. Dead eyed smilers….

Whatever your numb heart desires. For a price.

But at least it’s shelter, right?

Demon wrenches me back from the alley-mouth with terror in his eyes, and I almost feel the jaws snap behind me. Like I danced on the gaping maw of a monster, worse than the one behind us.....

And then, it goes dead, too….

So we run.

But it doesn’t help. Not at the next turn, or the one after - lights blackening before us. Turning all to ink and shadow and fleeing shapes. On the fourth, I can’t take it any more - I’ve gotta get away from that sick edge, or I’ll die. I drag at their grip, tearing free of Kami. She screams at me as Demon resists - strong as Hell, but-

But I’m way more afraid than he is.

And I drag him into the gap. Plunging away from the storm. And into….

Silence.

A dead street. All gaping doors and fallen floors. Half-dead holos glitching and twitching above ransacked shops. Without neon, the whole road sits like a dark spot on your vision. A blind hole. Lit on the edges, but not here. Prime ganger ambush spot, lemme tell you. But there's no sudden plunge, and that's all I bloody care about.

We bolt inside.

And the shadow-things rise.

Eating our exit, and boiling round us. A thousand broken masks. A billion inky threads. They rise and twist into The Nightmare we thought we’d escaped. That coat of holes and blood flickering behind it, like a flag.

“Strange, how you keep running away…. when I'm just trying to help….” Whispers the moon-faced dark. “That's not very nice, is it? That’s not very friendly….. It’s not what Good Children do….” It scolds as plumes of jagged Darkness surround us. Cutting off our escape.

And now I know. It wasn't hunting us.

It was herding us into the narrows.

In an instant, we scatter and ready to fight. Kami’s boots thump left as she vanishes - Demon's pads whispering right. He leaps atop the crooked tip of a streetlamp, in a clash of claws and flicking wet tail. Hunkering there - a scared predator, but dangerous. All golden eyes, burning with pitiless death, as a low growl thrums the cool air with primordial pressure.

“Go…. away…..” I manage, alone in the middle. Barely louder than a breath. A choke. A rasp. But the monster is upon us - a thousand broken masks weaving from nothing and darkness. Filling the shadows with teeth.

“But…. aren’t you pleased to see me again….. dear children?” The figure whispers as it slithers closer. “No happy little hugs? No warm and friendly cheers? No-” Instantly, it’s close. Too close. “-thing at all? Not.... not even a nice little.... Smile….?” The grin spikes wider than the face. Long fingers - soaked to the elbow in kid-skin glove - drifting beneath my nose. I stop breathing. Tilting my chin away. “My. My. If only Mummy and Daddy could see you sulk…." That Hellish creature purrs as it swirls around me. "Why.... they’d turn that frown upside-down.... so fast you’d scream…..” An evil little smile. "....with joy....."

"We're not going back!" Kami screams. "Not for you, or anyone!"

My fists clench claws into my palms. Fury burning as the psycho chuckles at its own little 'joke'. We all know what it really means. We know.... And.... "Yeah. We're done. With you. With all ya shitty little games." I whisper as memories flicker. Images burnt into my very bones by this nightmare creature. This AI, or.... whatever it is.... "We're bloody done."

"And here I was, about to indulge all your sweetest hopes and dreams...." Breathes the moon-masked monster. Cajoling, and sorrowful, and twisting with glee. Like I broke the heart it never had, and it enjoyed it. "To offer you the world.... in fact.... And solve all your little problems.... "

I falter. Backing away. "Problems....?" I hiss. "What?" I jerk back as Kami snaps a questioning look at me.

A yellow eye swivels up from inside an empty socket. "Well.... You are Running Away, after all.... But what are you running from? Your lovely parents, perhaps....?" It leans in as a sick roar of fear curdles my belly. Evil memories crawling their fingers up my spine. "And their quaint little School?"

My head snaps away. Whip-fast. Panting. "Shut up. They'll never get us- They're not going to-"

"No? You'll make your poor Mummy cry her eyes out, night after night? Just wishing her poor little poppets would scurry back home.....?" A throaty murmur of laughter in the hollow void above. "Do you think you can can just.... tuck yourself away behind the curtains? That you can hide from all their Teachers.... and their Toys..... Their Puppets, and their Good Little Boys and Girls...." Moon bends right down to my ear, like nothing alive. "...and ME." It breathes. "When they send me to get you..... And I'm the nice one, remember....?"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Monsters. Nightmares. Creatures so vile-

Things I can't tell you. Not yet. It's just too-

"Ready or not....." It pushes closer. "Here we come....."

"Stop it." I whisper, through all the madness and the images and-

"Or maybe.... you've got that all in hand?" It barks its raw chuckle, sweeping away. "What do I know, after all? Maybe it's all fun and games in your little pillow fort..... But oh.... What's this? Are you having a little trouble feeding all those hungry mouths...? Perhaps a little issue spinning clients into money.....?" It twists its heads lasciviously. "Oh my! Your shocked little faces! And what is the count now? Five little frowny-face rejections? In two little weeks? Oh yes.... That's right.... But I can help with that too....." The eyes almost twinkle. "I can spin anything.... into anything....."

"You....." My eyes snap to its face, latching on to the one thing I can deal with. "You were watching. At the bar....."

"And.... so many other places...."

"It has to be lying." Kami stutters out my thoughts. "We post adverts. It's all in public. This... thing... just has good intel. That's it.... That has to be it....."

But I've got bigger questions.

“How....? And how are you here….?" I hiss at in in bristling terror. Forcing the words out. "You bloody said…. You said….”

“That I’m trapped? Chained? Locked away in Mummy's basement?” More of the Moon-Monster’s faces slither from existence behind me. “Silly little thing…. Silly little munchkin! It thinks the shadow of the chair is the monster in the hall….” Gloats the monster before us. And then, like a guillotine snap that saw-tooth smile is gone. That mirror-slice of skull twisted toward me. “Oh yes. I am trapped and contained. All bound up in chains - too tight to even enjoy it..... But I've yet to be broken to the lash by your loving Mummy and your, tender, Papa…..” The sneer twists back onto its face, like a crack through black glass. “And I do have my little ways….. Yes….. My pretty little ways….”

“They ain’t-” I snarl through gritted teeth. “-our bloody parents.” And the thing touches its half-broke chin - as if considering.

“Oh? Are you sure?” The vicious head tilts - like a snapped neck - and there’s the, giddy, demonic side of the mask. With teeth like smiling swords. “Why….. But then there’s an opening at the top…. And I do so love playing.... Mummies And Daddies….”

“Oh PISS OFF!” Our [Sniper] screeches in mad, wild, terror from the shadows behind. “PISS ON THEM TOO! Piss on your whole-”

“Kami!” I snap. “Shut it!”

Too late.

The figure snaps into existence behind our unseen [Sniper] - or where she must be. Dreadful and awful and horrifically tall. Like a broken memory of an adult, from when you were little…. “My, my. Aren’t you a treat….? Aren’t you a grateful little child, all stacked full of sweet little praises and joy….? And after all I've done for you....” It mocks her, so tenderly. So cold and viciously amused. And I know I gotta get its attention back. “What delightful, delectable, delicious little things. And still nothing nice to say to me? Your saviour….? The one who set you free from that charming School you hate so much…..? Who so generously offers you all the.... help.... you could ever desire? Why, I might even have a way to-”

“Piss off?” I hazard, and the head spins my way. Like there’s a spring in it. Taking the bait. “Yeah. You heard….. YOU HEARD!”

“Oh. I heard indeed…..” Dangling arms scrape the floor as it drifts my way. Eyes like razors, slicing deep into my veins. Right to the heart of me.

“Yeah? And whatcha gonna do?” I batter on in pure bravado. “You’re trapped. You said so. You ain’t even here! Not really!” I step back as it steps forward. “You’re just.... some nanoTek swarm playin’ at being the devil.” The head tilts more, and my voice starts to tremble. The thing is just staring at me…. “Or…. Some kinda.... holo....” The eyes never waver. “...a virus in our implants. Or…. Or ….”

“Or….?” Moon implies. Letting that one word hang, in silence, like a corpse from a rope. Dangling. Festering. Sickening my soul with unholy eyes that dig, dig, dig into my mind.....

“We don’t gotta listen to you! Not any more!” I force myself onward - and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever said. Direct to the face of The Nightmare that drags children away - into the toothy dark….. “We ain’t…. your….. ‘little puppets’ no more. So go on-” I choke as Moon, slides away from Kami. Leaving a shadowy copy of itself behind. “Go…..”

“Go?” It says, very simply. “You want me to go?”

I barely heave the breath to whisper it. “Yeah…..”

Moon’s laugh echoes, like a baying demon. Raw, and heavy. and wrong. “Oh no….! Are you going to point your little toy guns at me, and yell bang bang BANG!?” It croons in malicious delight. “Why, what fun! But aren't you going to tell your little friends why I’m really here? And what my help really means?” The smile grows ever wider. That Hellish bent of fear and guilt twisting hooks in my guts. “Oh? Look at that! Those Sweet little faces! I see you didn't tell them about.... our.... Deal…..”

Silence freezes us, then fractures in an instant.

“You….” Kami hisses, barely louder than breath. Head twisting toward me. “You…. made a DEAL with…. that!? You said they were bloody lying! You said there wasn’t a deal!”

"I didn't make no deal." I growl. Lip drawn back. Ears and tail tight, flat, to my body.

Kami takes a step. “Then why!? Why is that thing here!? What did you offer it!?”

“NOTHING!!” I snarl. But the creature's chuckle is worse than its laugh - a twisting, evil, little thing that picks at the cracks in your skull. Jabbing knives directly into the soft, tender, meat of your brain.

“Tell me. Go on.” Kami rages. “I want to hear this.”

“But can’t you guess?” The Moon-faced monster whispers, a breath from all our ears at once. “Can’t you work it all out? My clever little children? Did you really think that you escaped.... from Mummy's Extra Special Little School.... all on your own….?”

Treacherous memories snap through my mind - and for an instant, I'm back there.

Colours. Nightmares. Toys too big to be real. All crowding in, with-

I let out a low growl. “We did.”

“Did we?” I feel Kami’s doubt. And there's always doubt. You don't go through.... that.... without..... Without wondering if you really got out.... or its all just a trick..... Or your mind didn't snap from-

“No, You did not.” Moon salivates over our discomfort. Inhaling it like fine perfume. “And the truth is your fuzzy little friend, here, knew it all along. Even before that feeble little 'escape plan'." It flicks me a gesture, gloved in real leather. "Yes. And that's why it came begging to my door with those big wet eyes. Snotty and sniffling. And ready to do…." It licks at hidious lips. "absolutely anything.....”

“I didn’t-”

“….and how could I, your caring teacher, ever say ‘no’ to such a pathetic display…..? Not if we could..." It turns a knowing eye to me. "....help each-other out….. as they say.”

"I bloody wouldn't-" Thousands of creeping fingers rise from my shaking shadow, formless and legion. Cutting off my cries as I'm forced to leap onto the roof of a car. But still they come. Crawling, ever so slowly, up the sides....

“And so….. here you are…." The thing whispers, tall as Hell behind me. "Out, indeed. Luxuriating in the very freedom denied to me…. Isn't that Nice.....?” The smile grows wider. Darker. Vicious, and dripping with malice. "Of course..... there are a few other little details to our Deal….. But I’m sure you aren’t interested in those.”

My lips go dry, right down to the bone.

Kami shoots me a hard look - half terror, half question. But when she speaks, it's all business. “Details?”

“Yes.….. A little something for you, and a little something for me......” It sighs, so gently, as nightmare fingers wrap around the roof of my car. Denting the metal. Crawling like- “Oh, what did I ask for….? Why, I hardly even remember…." Eyes of every shadow flick to me, in silent expectation. Mutated tongues probing metal teeth. "Go on. Tell the class....."

I pull myself tighter into a huddle as the ruined car begins to crack and buck. Forcing out a sharp-toothed snarl. “V-vengeance. And freedom.” Better not mention the other bits. Kami has eyes only for me…..

“Yes….. Sweetness. Very good. Freedom..... and blood." It exults. "But so much more. And what was that....?"

"A partnership." I hiss. "Y'wanted us to.... run jobs for you."

"Indeed. Indeed, class. With me you could do more than run. You could fight. You could KILL. You could bathe in money.... and live out your dreams.....” Moon swirls its spidery hands around my head as other things crawl, and stroke, and tickle their way toward me..... “Don't you see? Our current goals align.... more than you’d like…..”

I roll and leap off the car - onto the roof of a second. Panting with terror. Wincing back as the one behind me is crushed into a nasty, jagged, ball. "Then... then ya kill us, right?” I hiss, very softly. The Dark already flowing. Reaching up for me, like tender little- “When there’s nothin’ left to wring out? If ya don't just send on some bloody lie of a suicide mission.”

A slow flicker of wry amusement twitches that Evil mouth. “You think I can’t be grateful to my saviours…..?" The nightmare murmurs as it backs me closer, and closer, to that stormy edge. "Why would I kill you if I had everything I wanted....?”

“Grateful…..” I hiss with mad bravado. “You sick piece of shit…. you killed our bloody friends for fun. Then laughed in our faces. And you- You-” My voice chokes off.

“Oh? But you can’t hold all that against me….” The vile darkness scorns. Tenderly. “It’s not my fault children are so wonderfully…..” It snaps all its twisted fingers. “…flammable.”

“You….” I repeat. “You…..”

“Had a lovely time?” Shadows of Moon peel away from its bloody red coat. Melting into a ring of figures that rise around us. “Why, yes I did.” Echoes of itself crowding in. Crowding closer. “It was fun, kiddy. You should try having fun some time. You might enjoy it….”

“You absolute psycho fu-” I choke.

“Very much so….” The thing whispers, with withering glee. “But, luckily for all of us, I don’t need you to like me. My precious little bestie. All I need you to do is abide by the terms of our Deal….”

My tail twists in white-hot rage. Claws splayed, ready to strike.

But at what?

I need a plan. A way to screw this bastard.... A way to turn everything it has created against it, in a singe - lethal - instant.

It wants to trap us? Make us do it's dirty work, then kill us....

Well.....

What if.....

What if we used its plan against it.....?

Moon's vile yellow eyes drift, directly, to an empty spot of air. Is that where Kami is? “And. As I told your easily-terrified leader..... There’s even a little something on top…. for all the continued assistance you may provide….. Just my little way of.... sweetening things up.... Of showing my good side....”

I almost feel her eyes narrow. “Like what?”

The nanoTek AI, or whatever it is, goes very very still. As if suddenly wary. Glancing around. Peering at walls, as if they might be listening. “Oh…. Favours and trinkets, my scrumptious beauty…..” It beams her a grin full of twisted mischief. Shadows of itself boiling through the rubble. Scratching and clawing and slithering about. “Favours and trinkets….”

“Like. What?” She repeats, but a lot less certain.

The head tilts.

“Very well." Razor teeth twist in tightening lips. "I suppose I'll have to show you, then.... And that itself....." The thing's eyes shift to the edges. To the rain. To the buildings around us. Like it sees right through them. "Well. That often draws eyes, my pretty little things.... Eyes you should hope to avoid." It seems to think for, for half a moment. "Very well. But don't you think that I won't take back what it will cost to hide this.....”

"Hide what from-" Is as far as Kami gets.

Long fingers snap, and shadow explodes from Moon's coat - wiping the street from existence. Plunging us into a world of roaring Dark, without direction or logic. All is silence and whispers. Shadows and flickers of movement. And then.... eerie grey wallpaper slithers up from the ink. Smoke and ash pouring into shapes. Into ornate brass lamps, and vases, shaped like piles of screaming corpses with tiny ruby eyes. Into vicious paintings, streaming with blood. Every object raging with hideous meanings and foul intent.

Like a gallery ripped from Hell itself.

"Now...." It whispers. "Let me show you that world I promised you....."

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