Gerard studied the ominous castle in the distance, his hand clutching a nine millimeter semi-auto pistol for dear life. The structure had suddenly appeared when a voice that seemed to emanate from the full moon called to him, awakening him with a start. The roof of his apartment building threatened to cave in under him as he stepped toward the forbidding castle. Instinct took over with no warning. Involuntarily, he leapt toward the castle and was shocked to find that he was flying and felt very small. His vision began to diminish to a blurry slit, replaced by an auditory awareness of the dust particles and microorganisms in the air around him. “How cliche”, he tried to utter. It came out as a screech. He steeled his nerves and flew toward the castle behind the moon even as it continued calling his name.
His thoughts finally became words again as he reached the castle gates and returned to human form. “Why am I doing this? Fuck my l-” His rant was cut short as he crashed to the ground in a heap. Immediately, he leapt up and brought his pistol to bear, sweeping it in wide arcs until he was sure the coast was clear. He sighed heavily and slowly lowered his gun. Pain shot up his back and he reflexively leapt away, turning around to find himself face to face with a grinning skeleton. Its sharp, glistening fingers dripped with his blood. Gerard screamed for all he was worth and shattered its skull with three panicked shots, one of which missed. The skeleton collapsed into pieces. Panting hard, Gerard raised his pistol and turned back toward the open castle gate. He only had fourteen bullets left, so he hoped there would be no more fighting to do. Something in his gut told him he would have no such luck.
Tentatively, he walked to the open gate with deliberate steps. He stepped through the threshold and into an ominously empty hallway. Red carpet covered the cobblestone floor and silver candelabras pockmarked the smooth stone walls, their flames reflecting and dancing around the room. The only sound was Gerard's harsh breathing and slow footsteps. His heart was pounding, but he was fairly certain that wasn't audible. On the other side of the hallway, there was a simple wooden door. He steeled his nerves, brought his gun to bear and kicked the door. The crash startled Gerard even though it had been his doing. A scream and a single bullet dove into the shadows together. "Damn it," he muttered, "down to thirteen now."
"Gerard." A deep voice echoed from the darkness as footsteps approached him. His pistol didn't waver as he waited for the source of the voice to appear. "I've waited for you." A man in a lab coat stepped forward slowly, his hands up to show peaceful intent. Gerard lowered his gun slowly. "Me? Why me?" The man came closer, revealing a pair of deep set eyes inside a bald head, tinged a subtly unsettling shade of fluorescent green. Sharp features commanded Gerard's attention when the man spoke. "I am Sydney." The man offered a withered hand and Gerard shook it gently, fearing he may break it. "Sorry about this." Sydney's hands shot toward Gerard with surprising strength and he felt himself leaving the ground. A dull impact kissed the top of his head and his vision blanked out like a television whose power cord had suddenly been cut.
No comments:
Post a Comment