The Silver Ring (8 page)

I glanced down at the ring, the thing which hadn’t glowed since I was back in the house.

“What are you saying—that it’s the most powerful thing in the universe?”

Cashman laughed again, shaking his head. “No, David, that’s where your human mentality stops you. The silver ring isn’t the most powerful thing in the universe. It
is
the universe.”

26

“The Shadow Man isn’t his real name, you know. Fact is, I don’t even know his real name. In his world, with his language … well, it’s just easier to call him the Shadow Man. And let me tell you, he is one mean motherfucker. I’d put him right up there with Genghis Khan or Joseph Stalin. This guy, he pretty much took over his world. Those who refused to worship him, he killed. The ones who agreed to worship him are now his slaves.”

Cashman lit himself another cigarette, took a drag, puffed out three small smoke rings.

“So why are you helping him then?” I asked.

“Me and Mom, we’re kind of … outcasts from our world. The Shadow Man promised us if we delivered the silver ring we could go back. Not only that, we’d be wealthy and powerful. Like royalty.”

“You don’t think he’s going to double cross you? Like use the silver ring to destroy your world?”

Cashman grinned as he kept staring out at the rippling water. “Kid, the Shadow Man wants to only destroy one world, and it’s this one.”

“Why?”

“Beats me. But the truth is nobody likes you humans. You’re all too arrogant. Self-centered. Nobody here wants to believe in the existence of other life in the universe because none of you want to share, even though it’s not like you’ll ever be able to visit other galaxies. Selfish bastards, that’s what humans are. You ask me, the Shadow Man would be doing the rest of the universe a favor.”

I glanced back at Emma, my little sister sitting with her head down, her hands in her lap. Nancy kept the gun trained on her head, the barrel steady.

“Let my sister go,” I whispered to Cashman.

He shook his head. “No can do, kid.”

“She doesn’t have to be here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“I can’t even take this stupid ring off even if I wanted to. So how the hell is the Shadow Man going to get his hands on it?”

Right then the streetlamp flickered. It was just small thing, nothing more than an unsteady flash, and Cashman clapped his hands.

“Showtime,” he said, stamping the cigarette out in the ashtray.

“What are you talking about?”

He jerked his head toward the warehouse. “The Shadow Man’s here.”

“But … how do you know? The only thing that happened was the light flickered.”

“That’s right. How else do you think we travel between the planes of existence? We don’t use flying saucers. All we do is just burst through the fabric of your reality, and by doing so it creates an electrical shortage. Just a flicker, like you said, so nobody ever really thinks twice about it.”

He took a deep breath, smiled, and opened his door.

“Shall we?”

27

There was an electrical box just inside the door. Cashman had to flip the switch back and forth several times before something caught and the lights in the ceiling turned on.

The warehouse was huge. At least three stories tall, it stretched to about the size of half a football field. It was clear it would take awhile for the lights in the ceiling to come on fully.

Unfortunately, Cashman didn’t want to waste anymore time.

He knew better than to bother with a gun. He just led me straight toward the center of the warehouse. Emma and Nancy trailed us, Nancy keeping her gun pressed against Emma’s head.

We had almost reached the midway point when a soft, low voice echoed in the darkness around us.

“
Stop
…”

We stopped.

“
You have done well, Cashman …
”

“Well,” Cashman said loudly, “I do what I can.”

“
The boy has the silver ring, yes?… Let me see it …
”

The voice sounded like it was coming from every direction.

Cashman nudged me.

I raised my left hand up high.

“
Yes …”
the voice said, excited now. “
Very, very good …
”

Behind me, Emma began sobbing.

I wanted to turn back to her, try to say something comforting, but right then the Shadow Man showed himself.

He sort of materialized in front of us. Pieces of darkness pulled from the edges of the warehouse, swirling about, until standing only a few feet away was the distinct shape of a man.

Cashman, despite his assurance the Shadow Man would not double cross him, slowly backed away.

I stayed motionless, staring back at this thing that began to form features: eyes, a nose, a mouth.

The mouth moved when it spoke.

“
Give me the ring …
”

“I can’t.”

The black eyes seemed to darken for an instant.

“
Do not play games with me, boy … Give me the ring …
”

I held my hand up again, pulled at the ring that wouldn’t budge. “See, it won’t work,” I said, then I lowered all my fingers except the middle.

The black eyes seemed to flash even darker.

“
Cashman
”—the soft, low echo voice becoming harsher— “
bring me the girl …
”

Emma was still sobbing. She couldn’t seem to stop. She even tried running away when Cashman went for her, but he was quicker. He picked her up, carried her toward the Shadow Man, and placed her on the ground. She tried to run again but the Shadow Man reached out with his dark hand and held her in place.

She screamed.

“
Now, boy
,” the Shadow Man said, “
give me the ring …
”

“I told you, it won’t come off. See?”

And I frantically tried taking the ring off again, pulling as hard as I could.

It slid off my finger with no trouble at all.

“
Yes …
” the Shadow Man said excitedly.

I stared down at the ring. Then I looked up at the Shadow Man and Emma. Then I looked over to my left, where Cashman and Nancy stood. They’d slowly been moving backward, as far as they could from us without making it too obvious. By now they were maybe thirty feet away.

“
What are you waiting for?
” the Shadow Man asked. “
Do you want me to kill your sister?
”

“No.”

“
Then give me the ring … GIVE IT TO ME!
”

I kept staring down at the ring, expecting it to glow.

Blinking, I glanced up at the Shadow Man.

Glanced back down at the ring.

Glanced back up at the Shadow Man.

I didn’t understand—not everything—yet somehow I did.

“Fine,” I said. “You want the ring so badly, catch.”

And I tossed the ring, not in the Shadow Man’s direction, but in the direction of Cashman and Nancy.

They both knew what was going to happen before it did. Maybe Cashman was right; maybe his species was smarter than us humans.

Nancy made a sound like a strangled scream; Cashman just yelled.

The Shadow Man dissolved at once, the strands of darkness whipping in circles toward Cashman and Nancy.

And still the ring flew through the air, turning over and over.

Less than fifteen feet away … less than ten … less than five …

It began to glow when it reached the two of them.

The Shadow Man reached them at the same time.

He materialized suddenly, catching the glowing silver ring in both black hands—

And at once there was an explosion of bright intense light, followed directly by screams and cries of anguish.

It was only there for a second or two, nothing more, and then the light blinked out. The screams and cries stopped. Cashman and Nancy and the Shadow Man were gone. All that was left was the silver ring, now falling to the ground.

I started walking then, not toward the ring but toward my sister.

Emma was sobbing again, and I lowered myself to my knees, wrapped my arms around her, held her tight. I smoothed back her hair with my hand—the hand that had just seconds ago worn the silver ring—and I whispered to her that it was okay, that everything was okay.

The lights in the ceiling flickered and we were suddenly no longer alone.

28

Before there had been only three figures in long blue robes and cowls. Now there were three
hundred
, all crammed into the warehouse, surrounding us.

I had managed to get Emma to calm down, sobbing into my shirt. But when she sensed the figures around us, she looked up and screamed.

I stood up, keeping a hand on my sister’s shoulder. It had only been a minute since I took the silver ring off but already I felt lost without it.

All the figures were motionless, the round darkness of their cowls facing us. Only one moved forward, the one closest to the ring. It reached out a pale, skeletal hand, picked the ring up and cupped it in its palm. It slowly began to approach us.

Emma screamed again, holding onto me now, her fingernails digging into my leg.

“What do you want?” I asked.

The figure kept approaching.

My sister’s fingernails digging even deeper, I shouted, “
What do you want?
”

The figure came to a stop only a few feet away. For some reason I expected to smell something awful coming from its body—decay and death—but there was no scent at all.

Beside me, Emma had buried her face in my stomach.

I stood my ground, keeping my hand on her shoulder.

The figure raised its hand, the one cupping the silver ring … which had begun to glow.

The silver ring thanks you,
said a voice both inside and outside my head.

“For what?”

For helping eliminate the Shadow Man.

“That’s not his real name.”

No, but you could never even begin to comprehend his real name.

“Why me?”

Why not you?

“People died. My parents died.”

Many people die. It is just the way of the universe.

“That’s not the type of universe I want to be part of.”

The figure didn’t reply. The ring in its hand kept glowing.

“What are you anyway?”

We are the protectors of the silver ring. The protectors of the universe.

“Yeah? Well judging by the past twenty-four hours, you’re lousy at your job.”

We do only what the ring commands. And it commanded us to come here to this planet so it could find you.

Emma had loosened her grasp on my leg, still scared but understanding that these figures meant us no harm.

“Now what happens?”

Now the ring will grant you one request for your troubles.

I glanced down at my sister, glanced back at the figure. I shook my head.

“I want nothing from the ring.”

The ring knows what you want. It also knows you think it cannot work. But you are wrong.

“How? Cashman and the Shadow Man … they would still be alive.”

Remember, both time and space are infinite. They cross over into one another. What has happened here tonight will never change.

I glanced down at my sister.

Emma, tears drying on her face, looked up at me.

“What do you want to do?” I asked her quietly.

She whispered, “I just wanna go home.”

I looked back up at the figure, at the silver ring still glowing in its cupped hand, and nodded.

“Let’s do it.”

29

Five minutes before a man with a gun planned to enter the store, two little girls cut in front of me in line.

It wasn’t really their fault. I was waiting in line, yeah, but this being a convenience store, the tabloid magazines were stored on a rack beneath the counter, and I was turned toward them, reading the ridiculous headlines about even more ridiculous celebrities. Above me, the speakers in the ceiling poured some a song by Bruce Springsteen.