Ethereal Malignance, page 6
He opened the door carefully and checked the corridor. Clear for now.
They ran to the fire exit and got through it just as the elevator dinged.
The staircase had a chain-link fence along the sides. Breathing heavily, they raced down four flights of stairs into the concrete car park and towards the nearby park. John looked back. Zeluniel watched them from the top of the stairs.
John and Jessica ran across the grassy park towards the railway terminal. Jessica was in the lead, and John followed closely. He felt the familiar dark sensation, and his ring finger cramped.
John slammed into the ground; the air knocked out of him. The world spun for a moment before he rolled onto his back, gasping for breath.
Half of Nashgrakh’s face was blackened and burned. No grin this time. He bared his teeth.
John swung his right fist, but Nashgrakh pinned his arm easily and pushed him harder into the ground. John kicked his legs and writhed, crying out as his shoulder dislocated. The creature brought his face closer; he felt like prey in a predator’s embrace.
A wave of panic washed over him, not his own, but Yondarel's. It was a sensation, a feeling of dread that echoed his own fear.
“Hey!” Jessica shouted.
Nashgrakh looked up, and she smashed him across the face with a large branch.
The distraction was enough. John brought the ring to Nashgrakh’s arm who roared in pain as his flesh sizzled. John wriggled free.
Jessica ran, and Nashgrakh loped after her. John clambered to his feet and followed. After a few steps, his shoulder popped back into place and healed itself. He ran faster.
Nashgrakh dove at Jessica’s legs, tripping and knocking her to the ground. He slowly and deliberately dragged her by the ankle to a nearby signpost as she struggled and screamed. He ripped the metal pole from the ground, a mass of concrete around its base. He held it above her.
Jessica screamed as Nashgrakh swung the pole. John jumped between them and held up his forearm to block the blow. With a sickening crunch, his forearm bones splintered and cracked. He roared in pain.
Nashgrakh dropped the pole and grabbed John by the throat, jerking him to his feet. John gasped for breath as Nashgrakh squeezed with both hands.
With a wet pop, the bones in John’s arm snapped back into place, unbroken. With an enraged expression, John punched Nashgrakh in the head and fell to the ground awkwardly. He dry-retched as his ankle snapped and almost immediately healed. He tasted reflux, but the air tasted sweet as he breathed freely again.
Nashgrakh clawed at the new burn on his head.
John went to hit him again but froze mid-motion when the ethereal glared at him and snarled. It was a sound that echoed from the depths of a nightmare, a primal warning that set John into flight.
He ran towards the railway tunnel, deliberately leading Nashgrakh away from Jessica, and quickly climbed over the fence and embankment. Nashgrakh leaped clear over and chased him. John ran into the dark tunnel, its darkness swallowing him whole, only several strides ahead of the monster. The rough, uneven walls and the foreboding darkness within felt like he was burrowing beneath the earth.
John ran blindly through the darkness. He hoped Nashgrakh couldn’t see in the dark. A distant, low rumble echoed in the distance, and he realised he’d need to time this carefully.
A sudden, brutal force slammed into John's side. Pain exploded through his body as he was hurled sideways, colliding with the unforgiving concrete wall. He crumpled, face first, onto cold, hard gravel. His back ached from the impact. He rose unsteadily to one knee. The ground rumbled and shook. Nashgrakh reached out for him, and John could sense his anticipation of victory, apparently uninterested in the rising din.
A blindingly bright light drenched them both. Nashgrakh looked up in surprise, and John leaped with all his might, shoving him backwards. John scrambled back and pressed flat against the tunnel wall.
A loud horn blared, and the train smashed into Nashgrakh. He went under the wheels.
John tried not to move as the train whooshed past. His clothes fluttered in the wind of its passage.
Brakes squealed, echoing deafeningly. His ears rang in pain.
The train took a long time to screech to a stop.
John needed to make himself scarce before anyone else entered the tunnel, but he had unfinished business first. In the dim light, John followed the sense of foreboding darkness and found Nashgrakh’s mangled body. The creature wasn’t dead. John felt the dark spark of its essence.
Kill!
Without knowing why, John pushed the ring against Nashgrakh’s body. The creature made a gurgling groan.
Consume!
John willed Nashgrakh’s essence into himself.
Strength surged within him, and he felt more powerful than ever. The darkness was gone. Nashgrakh was dead, leaving behind the husk of a broken and mangled human corpse.
John followed Jessica’s presence to the crowd near the stopped train. He marched briskly to her.
“Let’s go,” he said quietly. “The train’s no longer an option.”
She opened her mouth and then looked around. “Chuyện gì đã xảy ra thế?” she asked.
“I’ll explain later,” he said. “We have to go before the police arrive.”
They made their way through the city streets, away from the sirens, and stopped near a payphone. Jessica caught her breath. John didn’t need to.
“Nashgrakh?” she asked.
“Dead,” John said.
“Oh,” Jessica said. “Good, right?”
Power surged through his veins. “Very good. He caught a train.”
“Oh,” she said thoughtfully. “The poor driver.”
Nothing I do is ever good enough!
“If I hadn’t done that, Nashgrakh would have killed me, killed you, and destroyed the world!”
Jessica was quiet for a while. “I wasn’t criticising you. I just feel bad for him.”
A twinge of something that might have been guilt flickered in John's mind but was quickly drowned out by the power coursing through him. He rubbed his temple and then pointed to the booth. “Payphone.”
“Thank you.” Jessica looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "I'm surprised you remembered." Her voice carried a hint of bitterness.
He waved off her thanks, sincere or not, and focused on the feelings of power within. He felt like he could take on anything; he never wanted to feel helpless again.
Jessica said something, but he didn’t hear.
“What?”
“I said do you have any coins? For the payphone.”
“Oh, right,” he said and searched his pocket.
“Are you all right, miss? Is this man bothering you?” said a man from behind them. He looked to be in his late thirties, dressed in a sharp suit and tie, his hair neatly styled. Human, not ethereal.
“We’re fine here, thanks,” John said in a biting tone.
The men faced off against each other.
“I was talking to the lady, thank you very much.”
“It’s okay, really,” Jessica said. “I was just going to use the payphone to call my parents.” She looked pleadingly at John. “Bình tĩnh.”
“What’s that?” the stranger asked. “Why don’t you come with me? How about we just—”
Hit him!
John snarled and punched the man in the gut. He flew backwards and collapsed on the ground like a ragdoll. Injured or dead, John didn’t know and didn’t particularly care.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jessica screamed in a high-pitched voice.
“He was going to cause problems,” John responded coldly.
“He was trying to help!”
“He was trying to help you. He was going to call the police on me.”
“So what?” She had tears in her eyes.
“If he called the police, best-case scenario is that I’d be arrested,”
She rolled her eyes. “Arrested?”
“And worst-case scenario, I’d end up dead.”
“Dead? You’re insane.”
His eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t be so goddamned naïve.”
Had she never seen the news? Read a newspaper? Had any idea of life outside her parents’ ivory tower?
They glared at each other, ignoring the unconscious man on the ground.
“Do you seriously not get that being Black is a health hazard when dealing with the police? You’re too smart to be so ignorant. The police might be your friend, but they’ll never be mine. When they see me, they see a Black thug who should be behind bars. When they see you, they see a smart Asian girl who deserves the benefit of the doubt. They’d handle you with kid gloves but think I’m a dangerous threat and use force accordingly.”
Jessica rolled her eyes and walked away to check on the interfering stranger.
“He’s breathing but unconscious,” she reported.
John looked around. He couldn’t see or hear anyone, or sense any ethereal presence.
John seethed with rage and fury that she would so willingly invalidate his and other Black people’s experiences. John clenched his fists and paced back and forth, his footsteps loud on the concrete beneath him.
When he looked over, Jessica was on her feet. She’d repositioned the man onto his side with an arm outstretched and head tilted back. John didn’t understand why but didn’t care.
She walked over to the payphone.
“Don’t you need coins?” he asked.
“No. I’m calling an ambulance, arsehole.”
“Fine, be that way.”
He rummaged through the stranger's pockets and found a set of keys with a BMW logo. Jessica was still on the payphone, but he didn’t care to listen to the details.
The keys had a fob with buttons.
Fancy.
John pushed the button with an open padlock symbol. There was a high-pitched bip bip, and a car on the side of the road flashed its headlights. He headed towards it.
It was a black BMW with only two doors. The badge on the back read, “318i.” He had no idea what that meant, but he knew that BMWs were expensive.
“What are you doing?” Jessica asked. She sounded horrified. “It’s not enough you’ve nearly killed him, you want to steal his car, too?”
John had no patience left for this bullshit. “Unless you want to die, we’re taking this car.”
The standoff lasted a second.
Jessica said, “Give me the keys.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Do you know how to drive?”
He threw the keys to her, and she snatched them out of the air. It was a good point. He’d never had the opportunity or money for lessons.
They climbed into the car.
Jessica clicked in her seatbelt, started the engine, and looked at him expectantly.
“Put the seatbelt on,” she said.
“No,” he said.
“If we crash—”
“I have a magic ring that will magically heal me, so I’m fine, thanks.”
She looked pissed off.
“You’re wasting valuable time right now,” he said.
She shook her head but put the car in gear and pulled onto the road.
Chapter Ten
John looked at the street signs as Jessica drove.
“Get back across the river, then head west,” he said.
She grunted an acknowledgement as she changed gears and lifted her foot off the clutch. The wail of sirens called somewhere behind them. John looked around, spooked.
“Hiding in the hotel didn’t work. The ethereals just home in on you no matter where you are. We should head to Griffin’s shack.”
“Uh-huh,” Jessica said.
He felt her frostiness but didn’t care.
They drove in silence for several minutes.
Jessica was the first to speak. “So, end of the world, hey? Funny you didn’t mention that earlier.”
John grimaced. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come up, actually.”
“Why? Too unbelievable for me?”
“Well, yeah, of course. But Griffin might have been guessing about that bit.”
“Might have?”
John shrugged. “Like I said earlier, he didn’t tell me everything. There’s a lot I don’t know. He just said to find you and save you, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Right,” she said, abruptly businesslike. “So why Griffin’s shack?”
“Because it’s shielded against ethereal … senses.”
“How do you know that?”
“He lived there for decades with this ring, and the ethereals never bothered him. That’s good enough for me.”
“You and Griffin were close?”
“You could say that.” John smiled sadly.
“How close?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, Jesus, no! He was like two hundred years old!”
“Right, sorry, sorry. Was just wondering.”
“Griffin was my only friend. He was like my … like a kindly old uncle, or at least what I imagine one would be like.” John sighed. “Let’s take stock for a moment.”
“Okay,” Jessica said. She concentrated on the road ahead of her.
“I have no idea how many of these ethereals are after us.”
“Great,” Jessica said drily.
“Let’s start with Nashgrakh.”
“Crazy guy. Tried to kill me with a pole.”
“That’s the one.” John laughed. “You bashed him in the face with a fucking tree. That was fucking awesome!”
Jessica gave a slight smile. “I aim to please.”
“Anyway, he’s dead. I made sure.”
“I don’t want to know the details,” Jessica said with a squeamish expression.
“Who was next?”
“The shopping centre pair.”
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Yekhtreshk.”
“Young guy?”
“That’s the one. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. I think Zeluniel killed him.”
“Such a shame,” she said sarcastically.
“That leaves Zeluniel,” he said.
“Old woman?”
“Yeah. She’s the only light creature we’ve encountered. I haven’t sensed her since the hotel.” He gritted his teeth. “She seems stronger since she, uh, finished off Yekhtreshk.”
“Well, that’s not good,” Jessica said calmly as if they were discussing bad weather. “And you have no idea how many there are?”
“It’s one of the many, many things Griffin didn’t have time to tell me.”
“Hopefully, now we’ve got a car, we can put those troubles behind us, get a big head start, and hide out in your friend’s hidey hole.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“That still leaves Yondarel. It sounds like an ethereal name, right?”
“Yeah, about that, I’ve got”—John stared at the upcoming overpass, sensing danger—“Watch out!”
She looked over at him, alarmed. “What do you—”
The roof of the car crumpled as something large and heavy fell on it. Then, a crazed-looking young woman landed on her hands and knees on the front of the car. Darkness like a starless night sky oozed from the ethereal, who John instinctively understood was Gralkrakh, and the hidden figure on the roof.
“Cover your eyes!” John yelled.
Jessica screamed and covered her eyes with one hand. The car swerved wildly, scraping against the kerb. She tried in vain to regain control, but the car continued its erratic course, narrowly missing a streetlight.
Gralkrakh, the dark ethereal crouched on the front of the car, punched through the windscreen. The pane of glass held together, and her bloodied hand caught. John touched her fist with the ring. Gralkrakh shrieked as her skin sizzled, falling backwards off the car and ripping out the entire windscreen.
A double thump confirmed she’d been run over by both sets of wheels. The car banked back and forth across the road, and John grabbed the steering wheel to keep it steady. He looked up and wondered where the other dark creature was.
A fist ripped through the metal roof and smashed into John’s shoulder, shattering it. He let go of the wheel with a guttural grunt of agony. He closed his eyes and willed away the pain, gritting his teeth as his shoulder rebuilt itself.
The creature felt like the utter darkness of a deep mine shaft, and he instinctually knew its name was Zhelktrakh.
John’s face was a mask of rage. He planted his feet firmly on the seat, crouched down as much as the confined space would allow, and then propelled himself upwards. With both hands, he smashed into the roof, tearing it open like a tin can. Zhelktrakh was flung into the air and off the road. The night felt brighter without the dark one with them.
“You can open your eyes now,” John said.
Jessica did and groaned as she wrestled with the steering wheel. In the chaos of the fight, she’d taken her foot off the accelerator, and the car had slowed significantly. The engine groaned in protest, lurching as it struggled with the high gear at such a low speed. Jessica's hand darted to the gearstick, quickly changing gears. The car’s grumbling ceased, settling into a smoother ride as it matched the lower speed.
However, the roof was bent back and acted like a sail, forcing the car to list uncontrollably. John stood and slowly bent the roof back into shape, making the tortured sound of twisting metal. It was roughly horizontal again but with a gaping hole in the middle and unsealed on the sides and front. It vibrated loudly, and air blew through the car with an obnoxious, piercing whistle.
The car was now a cacophony of vibrating metal and whistling wind, but at least it was under control. John slumped back into his seat, spent. Out of the corner of his eye, Jessica gripped the steering wheel tightly. She kept stealing glances at him, her face a mix of shock and disbelief. The silence between them was heavy, and he could almost feel the weight of her unasked questions about his sudden display of strength.
“Oh no,” John said in a subdued tone. Gralkrakh’s dark presence was nearby. He looked through the mirrors. Where was she? “Don’t slow down,” he said.
Jessica grunted in response and sped up.
The driver’s door ripped off and flew away. Gralkrakh gripped the edge of the now-exposed door frame and wedged her feet against the side of the car. With her free hand she clutched at Jessica’s upper arm.
