Edge of End (11 page)

Stealing another glance back, my heart
seemingly stopped. The storm was just a step behind me. I could no
longer see the beasts pursuing me from behind, but I also didn’t
know whether they were still there, or not, as the storm had now
engulfed the street.

By the time I discovered the dogs had
dropped off and were no longer following me, I was in front of
Elizabeth’s house. I passed by it running like the wind now, trying
to distance myself from the other danger–the storm.

I was no longer far from
the café. There were only a few houses separating me from it, but
the dusty wave that was just behind me would surely reach me before
I could reach safety, swallowing me in its huge
stomach
.

“
Jonathan,” Elizabeth’s
shrill voice washed over me. She was on the road at the café,
horrified, watching my desperate attempts to outrun the
storm.

“
RUN!” I cried as loud as
my lungs allowed me. “Get into the café, now!”

She did as she was told. I watched her
enter the café, the same café I might never reach
myself.

The storm crept up behind me, seizing
me and sucking me into its vacuum. I lost sight of the café, and
the surrounding houses also disappeared into the enormous dusty
wave leaving me absolutely alone, fighting against nature’s
fury.

I was still determined to reach the
café, but a second later I realized that it wasn’t just any storm,
it carried evil and malice.

It seemed filled with hundreds of
voices, roars and screams that overwhelmed me. Surrounding me, they
forced their way into my mind. I heard humans being
tortured.

However, I couldn’t see anyone. I
heard horrible maniacal laughs, leaving me feeling nauseated,
nevertheless, the whole time I didn’t see who the voices and
laughter belonged to.

Don’t
stop
, I thought,
the café is not much further now
.
Armed only with my piece of tube in my right hand, I continued
running blindly, the evil storm on my tail. The only thing I could
see was the ground at my feet. The shrieks and evil voices were
quickly approaching, closer and closer. I could hear them
clearly–they had recognized a lost and stupid living human who had
dared to challenge nature’s power. I was also fairly certain I
could hear the voices of the dead, moaning and screaming. I was
certain they were ready to add another soul to their forces. Who
was that soul? Me, of course!

Before me, the dust thickened. I
fought at that surreal phenomenon, all the while my legs were still
dragging me ahead right into it.

From out of nowhere a grim-looking
black face with menacing eyes and long ears materialized before me.
Its mouth open and its long teeth shining, it watched me
scornfully. The café entrance should be just behind the thick air,
but all I could see was this huge imposing face looking at me with
hungry eyes, waiting to swallow me whole.

Flinching, I doubted what I
saw.

Blinking to clear my eyes, I opened
them to double check, but it was still there - the face was real.
Instinctively, I lifted my weapon, positioned myself and threw it
towards the demonic-looking face. As the pipe was about to hit it,
the face vaporized into a fine dust and my weapon got sucked up
into the storm.

I stood there bare-handed,
facing a paranormal phenomenon, but then realized, how could a
piece of measly metal help me to fight
ghosts
or
demons
or
whatever was dwelling in the storm
?

As soon as that one face had
vaporized, other faces popped up around me laughing hysterically.
With their satisfied eyes, they continued to watch their
unfortunate victim–me.

Was this to be my pitiful end? I had
had extraordinary powers, I had the supernatural power to fight and
bring down those hellish dogs; they had been real things. But
amongst these ghosts and demons I had become a wretched rabbit
surrounded by a pack of starving wolves. The torturous voices
crawled into my head burning me inwardly. I closed my eyes and
yelled. They were inside me driving me crazy.

Come on, buddy, you can do
this,
I told myself and blinked my eyes
open wide. Gathering the last of my strength I moved
ahead.

Fortunately, the café steps appeared
before me. If only I could take several more steps, I might
survive. Holding my breath, I raced up the steps and at last the
door with the hanging sign “Open” was visible.

The café was right in front of me, and
all I had to do was to stretch my arm out to reach it.

Would I have time to move my
hand?

An angry snarl pierced through the
storm and the hideous faces flew upon me simultaneously at the
speed of lightning. I didn’t have many options, so I forced myself
into the café. The nearest face passed by mine. It had a
transparent body attached to its neck and long wings.

Demon.

I think it even brushed up against my
skin. Its light touch bore enough evil power to make me lose
consciousness. The dim light and the wandering ghosts in the storm
faded.

Darkness set in and took over my
mind.

I was in a dingy house corridor,
narrow with smooth light green walls that were waving like flags in
a high wind.

Unreal picture.

I felt a little dizzy. I thought my
eyes were lying to me. No doors, no arches, just a staircase at the
very end of the corridor that led upstairs. Behind me, the walls
stretched into the darkness; there was no way to turn back, only
ahead.

I started forward slowly. I was wary,
and I could hear the blood pulsating in my ears. Although the
corridor was empty, the air was filled with low whispers,
impalpable voices swirling around my head like little invisible
birds.

I don’t remember how I reached the
stairs, or if I had ever reached them, but all of a sudden I found
myself standing in front of a cream-colored door, the whispers
still sounding in my head, trying to tell me something. But their
voices were in vain, I couldn’t make out a word; they were speaking
in tones that were either too hushed, or in a different
tongue.

My brain seemed to have frozen up and
was deprived of any thoughts. My gut feeling led me to that
door.

What did they want me to do?
Enter?

“
You’re drunk. Get out of
the room!
” A woman’s voice full of anger
came from the other side of the door. I stood frozen, my ears
straining. “
Don’t touch
me
,” she yelled hysterically.
“
Get out! I told you never to come back
drunk
.”

I waited for a response from the other
person, the one who the woman was speaking to. There had to be
someone, in all probability a man, her husband maybe, but he was
showing reticence.

As I waited, I heard a loud slap,
followed by the woman’s cry of pain. Shoving the door open, I
hurried in.

It was a bedroom. The windows were
open, and white curtains blew gently in the breeze. A double bed
lay in front of me, its sheets crumpled up in a pile on the
floor.

The woman was lying facedown on the
bed, holding her face in her hands. Dressed in a black jacket and
pants, her hair was a tangled mess and fell down over her back.
Alone, she lay there weeping loudly.

“
Please, don’t hit
Mommy
,” Melissa’s trembling voice reached
me from behind. I jerked back, but the threshold remained empty,
just as I had left it. “
Please, don’t hurt
her, please!
” The girl proceeded to beg
the person who had been doing the beating, presumably her
father.

“
Get out Jonathan, get
out! Not for me, for your daughter
,” the
woman blurted in her sobbing voice.

I was puzzled. She was talking to me,
and I had no words to say back. I was speechless. My mouth remained
firmly closed.

Suddenly, I was swallowed
up by darkness, the girl’s clear and embedded voice continuing to
ring chillingly deep in my head, “
Are you
okay, Mommy? He’s gone, he left. I hate him. Don’t worry, when I
grow up, I’ll kill him for what he’s done to you. You’ll
see.
”

And then silence, absolute
silence.

I was standing amidst the darkness
like I was part of it, again having zero strength to think or to
cry or even to move.

A new picture appeared before me–a
large metallic-looking desk standing alone in a dimly lit room. A
lone lantern sent light reflecting across a number of small objects
lying on the desk–wads of money scattered over the
table.

I realized I was able to move again.
With hollow footsteps I shuffled forward to the desk for a closer
inspection. As I approached, the light of the lamp flickered and
sparked. Taking a closer look, I could see drops of blood appearing
on the green papers.

I swear to God just a moment before I
had been alone, but now there was a chunky-looking man rocking back
and forth in his chair directly behind the desk.

Any other day, I would have been
shocked, or surprised, but after everything that had happened
nothing really fazed me anymore.

The sitting man was splattered in his
own blood that was trickling down his forehead and chest. Had he
just been murdered? It certainly seemed that way. A bullet had
pierced his forehead with great precision; the killing had been
carried out by an assassin, a professional.

As I tried to examine his face, the
light went out, bringing back the darkness.

“
Jonathan! Hey! Can you
hear me? Jonathan?” This voice was familiar, but where had I heard
it? It was a woman’s voice full of soft sincerity and sweet
song.

“
Jonathan, open your
eyes,” that was unmistakably a man’s voice.

I did as I was told.

The darkness disappeared and was
replaced by a gloomy light. I found myself lying on a cold wooden
floor, staring up at a dirty-looking cobwebbed ceiling. My brain
reverted, letting me think again. I licked my lips, my mouth
obeying me easily.

“
Lucky son of a bitch,”
the man sounded cheerful now.

I raised my eyes and they worked their
way to my left. Red hair, brown miserable eyes. Elizabeth was
kneeling down beside me with one hand placed on my shoulder and the
other resting on my chest.

I recognized the man too. His
expression was one you couldn’t forget. Actually, his face was one
you couldn’t forget, with one mysterious eye peeking through and
the other concealed behind an old rag.

Malcolm. Dressed in a camel brown
coat, he smiled down at me, not a pleased smile, rather a strange
one that carried a hint of deceit.

“
Hey,” I crooned as I
struggled into a sitting position. My body felt beaten.

“
Take your time,”
Elizabeth said worriedly. “Do you feel dizzy or sick?”

“
No. What happened?” She
held my hand and helped me to sit up. “How long was I
out?”

“
Those demons from the
storm attacked you just as you were at the door,” Elizabeth began
explaining. “You jumped in, but one of them hooked you, and you
fell to the floor, unconscious.”

“
Those things in the storm
are very powerful and fast,” Malcolm said, his smile fading away.
“An inch more and it would have seized you and…” he trailed off
averting his eyes.

“
I guess I don’t wanna
know what would have happened then,” I murmured and looked into
Elizabeth’s eyes that were gleaming now, sure because I had
survived.

“
What the hell are you
doing here?”

This voice caught the three of us off
guard and made us leap back to the bar. I realized we were in the
café, and the angry voice belonged to the plump woman who ran it.
All dressed up this time, with her hands on her hips, she watched
us furiously, just like the doglike animals had been sizing us
up–annoyed, with hatred and full of malice. My subconscious told me
that she was going to fall upon us and tear us up into pieces, but
thank God, Malcolm was beside me.

“
They are with me,” he
said. “They’ll stay here until the storm passes and then they will
leave.”

“
This is not a motel for
lovebirds, Malcolm,” she shouted, banging her fist down on the
table.

The bottles rattled with the force of
her heavy hand. One glass fell down and shattered into a million
different crystal-like pieces right next to Elizabeth. She recoiled
as though she had just seen a poisonous snake.

“
You think coming and
ordering drinks allows you to bring anyone in here and hide from
the storm when my brothers and sisters are seeking such fresh
souls?” She jabbed her finger towards me. Our eyes met and for a
second, I could swear, I saw puffs of smoke in those black
holes.

What had she meant saying her brothers
and sisters? Who was she? Were those scary, fierce faces with
almost invisible bodies and wings related to her?