Part 7: Hello Again, and Goodbye.
”How ‘bout we go find yer buddy, Grant now,” the old man said.
”Brandon,” I replied, “we have to find him first. He’s been through enough already, I can’t…”
”We can git him later, kid. He ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
”No! He’s already been lost in this damn place once. I didn’t even want him here in the first place! You dragged him back into this!”
He studied me for a moment, cutting his eyes to Malphas, who returned a shrug in response. As desperate as I was to find Grant; to know once and for all if there was even a chance to make him whole again, I couldn’t allow my friend and roommate to endure whatever he was going through any longer.
Even months after he returned to the house, he wouldn’t tell me what he went through that last time. Granted, he didn’t recoil or fall apart as he had during our first visit to this damned building, but he downright refused to discuss it with me. I could only imagine the horrors he had to deal with before Grant gave his life in an attempt to free us both.
”Alright,” the old man said with a nod, “Brandon first.”
”Thank you…the thing is, I have no idea how to find him or Grant for that matter.”
”One thing at a time, kid. Gotta git outta this room first. We’ll figure out the rest from there.”
As we stood there attempting to figure out our next move, the old guy began looking around, muttering under his breath. For a moment, I thought he may be trying to communicate with something, perhaps even the consciousness behind the building itself. When he began to walk forwards, licking his finger and holding it out before him, I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking.
Malphas looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, even after I lit up a smoke to pass the time. We all just casually followed behind our guide as he paced onwards, still gazing all around him like he was looking for something specific. Finally finding our way back to concrete ground, just as I had the first time I walked this path, he stopped before making for the left.
”The thing ‘bout these old buildin’s,” he said almost to himself, “there’s all kinda secret passages and doors,” he reached his hand out, “just gotta know where to look.”
I felt my lips separate as my jaw slightly unhinged when reality appeared to swallow the tanned and wrinkled hand. I heard a loud clicking sound when he pulled back, before a tall, door-shaped hole, slid open before us.
”There we go,” he said, patting his hands together like he was dusting them off.
The moment all three of us cleared the doorway, reality sealed itself shut behind us once more. It struck me how similar an experience this was to what I could make out of the opening Grant sent Orchid and all of his high-class associates through. I couldn’t help but wonder if such things were just run-of-the-mill happenings for such out-of-reach entities as those I had met throughout my life.
The fact that my two traveling companions took all of this in stride made me feel like this was nothing more than strolling into the kitchen, from their point of view. Regardless of the whimsies of my curious mind, I highly doubted that I would ever get used to such things, even after all of the crazy things I’d experienced.
Once more, we found ourselves in the lobby of the enormous building in which the rules of reality as I knew them do not exist. Thankfully, Brandon’s ex was nowhere in sight, though I was honestly quite curious how she would fare against the old guy.
”What do I call you, anyway?” I asked, suddenly growing tired of thinking of him as ‘old man’, or just ‘the guy’ and whatnot.
Why this only just occurred to me, as we were quite literally in the middle of far more important things, I can’t say. Though I had my suspicions as to his identity, I still wouldn’t know what to call him were he to validate said suspicions.
”What do you wanna call me?” he asked, giving me that crooked smile again.
I just laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head.
”I don’t know, um, how about Max?”
Why Max? Well, all things considered, why not?
”Works for me. Now,” he said, getting right back down to business, “where did your friend disappear from?”
I walked over to where Ashley had been standing when we entered; where Brandon ended up swept away to elsewhere.
”Right around here.”
”Alright,” he said, walking over to investigate the area.
I moved back out of the way to allow him some space to do, well, whatever it was he planned to do, I suppose. Malphas and I just watched while he sort of sniffed at the air, brushing his hand around in front of him. Again, he was muttering to himself as he circled the area, glancing up and down before he crouched down to the floor.
”Lemme give this a try,” he said as he stroked his hand across the floor, lifting up with something pinched between his fingers.
Not unlike how the door shape hole had appeared after he seemingly yanked the invisible lever, he pulled reality open as if he was lifting a curtain, peeling it away from the floor.
”You two head in, I’ll keep the door open. If you need me, just give me a shout.”
Malphas shrugged, walking forward and ducking under the blanket of the lobby, with me following behind him. In all honesty, I was reluctant to go in without the man now dubbed Max by my side, but I hoped we could handle whatever Brandon was going through without him. Worst case, maybe we give him a shout and just look for another exit back to the lobby afterward.
Upon reaching the interior of what was hopefully my friend’s room, I couldn’t make out much, other than the glow of the lobby at our backs. There was something of a familiar odor to this place, but not significantly so; not enough for me to exactly scream ‘eureka’ or anything. Wherever we were, it would seem we were indoors.
I felt no breeze and heard no sounds of much of anything, but when I reached out through the darkness, it didn’t take me long to locate a wall of some sort. I traced my fingers across it, as my eyes began to adjust to the darkness a little. When a light came on above my head, I froze for a second, fearing we had been discovered by whatever malicious entity controlled this part of the house.
”That’s better,” Malphas said, smiling back at me next to the switch he’d just flipped.
Finally being able to see where we were, it wasn’t hard to figure out that it was some sort of basement, with a flight of stairs leading upwards on the other side of the room. When I creaked open the door to the next level, I listened closely for any signs of life beyond it. After verifying that all seemed clear, we walked through to see a fairly nice-looking ground floor of a house.
Some of the furniture and color schemes were strikingly similar to the house I shared with the man we were seeking out, but when I heard what sounded like feet pacing across the floor above us, I froze in place again. For a moment, given our surroundings, I felt almost like a burglar, sneaking around a house I didn’t belong in, but Malphas carried on like he owned the place, taking no care in silencing his footsteps.
As I crept to the next flight of stairs, set on practically tiptoeing the rest of the way, I couldn’t deny I felt a little silly with how I was carrying on. Still, I continued on that course, even after hearing what sounded like voices ahead. My mind flashed back to the room in which the distorted husks of my parents almost sent me to a grizzly end; something that brought with it a stab of pain to my stomach.
I hadn’t fully realized as Malphas revealed the story of their abduction, that those mutated, skeletal abominations, were very likely the parts of my folks the building had claimed for its own. Though I could not pretend that the hatred I felt for them still remained, I hoped I may be able to free them from this maddening place as well before our work was done here; if that would even be a possibility.
As I snuck across the slender hallway at the top of the stairs, I heard laughter coming from the room ahead. I feared that whatever it was that held Brandon captive may be well aware of our intrusion, preparing to strike the moment the door was opened. Regardless of my legs beginning to tremble and my back stiffening, I had to see this through. I had to save my friend, one way or another.
I was almost heaving for breath as I reached out for the doorknob to the room in which the almost childlike voices were giggling. I wondered if Brandon had been changed into a kid as I had before, or that there may even be some sort of deformed, malicious, horror movie children in there. The longer I stalled, the more graphic imagery crossed my subconscious, practically begging me to turn tail and run, but I would not leave him behind; not this time.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I clenched the knob and threw the door open. What I saw while I stood in that opening, desperately hoping for even the slightest chance of pulling off this rescue attempt, will likely linger behind my eyelids for many years to come, no matter how much my mind may beg for distractions.
”Oh shit!” Brandon screamed as his naked body tumbled off of the woman with the bright red hair.
I just stood there, stunned as he scrambled to pull the blanket to cover himself up, while Ashley laughed hysterically.
”Don’t you knock!” he said, chuckling and looking incredibly embarrassed at the same time, “damn, man!”
”I, um, we…” I couldn’t even begin to force my mouth to work right as the couple finally succeeded in covering themselves up.
Malphas was almost buckled over with laughter, while I still stood in place, almost shell shocked from the sight of parts of one of my closest friends I never expected to see. While this was a far more acceptable scenario than the horrors I had prepared myself for, I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the apparent rekindling of such a relationship.
So many questions hit me while I fought to speak: was this truly the Ashley that damned us to this place? Was this what Brandon went through the last time he was here? Why the hell was I locked away on the beach of a thousand undead hands while my roommate was getting his rocks off!?
”I wish you woulda called, man,” Brandon said, sitting next to his ex-girlfriend with his arm around her, “I mean, it’s nice of you to stop by and all, but…”
”What the hell, Brandon?” I asked, finally convincing my words to exit my mouth, while Malphus still snickered at my back, “you know what she is, right? Did you forget what she did to you; to us!?”
”Dude! What the fuck, man? What’s your problem!? You were the best man at our wedding, and now, what, you got a problem with her!?”
”Wedding? But…”
My words were cut off when Malphas laid a hand on my shoulder.
”One minute,” he said, holding one finger out to Brandon and his apparent wife, pulling me back out of the room, “I’m sure that ain’t her, like, not HER her, you know?”
”What is this?” I asked, still bewildered.
”He’s been here a few times now, right?”
”Well, two times, not counting the time he died…it’s complicated.”
”Either way, I’m thinkin’ there was some trial and error last time. Maybe, the house figured a happy guest is one that don’t wanna leave, you know?”
”So, what? It gives him a happy stay at the ‘get it on ranch’, and I get tossed in a hotel run by my shitty old boss who tried to kill me!?”
”The way I see it, and don’t get me wrong, I’m no expert or nothin’, but he came here willingly the last time, right? Maybe it knew how to keep him content this time. On the flip side, you’ve royally pissed off this place. It ain’t tryin’ to make you cozy.”
I just looked at him. I couldn’t deny he made some sense, but at the same time, Brandon looked terrified when we entered. Why would he be so frightened of returning to the fucking love shack!?
”Just a theory,” he said, “but maybe if we play along, we can get him to follow us?”
”Okay,” I said, seeing no other options at the time.
When I reluctantly returned to the room my friend was in, I was thrilled to see he was just finishing up getting dressed.
”I’m sorry man,” I said, when he turned to look at me, “it’s been a crazy day. I wasn’t trying to…”
”It’s cool, man. No harm done. How about you come over tomorrow, and we can go have some drinks or something.”
”Actually, and I’m really sorry to ask, given, well…but, any chance I could get you to come with me for a few? I gotta show you something.”
”It’s really late, Michael,” Ashley said, wrapping her fingers around Brandon’s wrist, “plus, we were kinda in the middle of something.”
The two smiled at each other, giggling a little.
”Yeah, man. Just come back tomorrow, yeah?”
”Brandon, man, you know I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important. Just please…”
”NO!” Ashley screamed with her eyes darkening and hair blowing out to the side as it had out at the Orchid mansion off Albertson road.
”Babe?” Brandon said, sliding off of the bed.
”STAY!” she shouted with darkened veins beginning to line her pale face.
”What the…”
”Brandon, get away from her…”
With a hauntingly loud shriek, she burst from the bed, floating above it, glaring down at me with a thick fog leaking from her eyes.
”He’s mine!” she sneered in a voice far deeper than the average person was capable of, “you’re ruining everything!”
As she shot towards me, Brandon jumped at her, attempting to tackle her, but she was on me before he even had a chance. She gripped her hands around my throat, while Malphas attempted to pull her off. With one hand around my neck and the other jabbing at my midsection, everything before my eyes was growing quickly out of focus.
Just as things began to fade completely, while the man wearing Grant’s face still fought to free me from the mad woman, Brandon did something very unexpected.
”Baby,” he said, tracing his fingers across the side of her face, “it’s okay.”
As her grip loosened, her hair fell back across her shoulders. Her darkened eyes blinked back to their usual green, with tears trickling from behind them.
”H-he wants to t-take you away from me…”
”Sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere,” he said, pulling her up to face him, and wrapping his arms around her.
She fell into him, clutching tightly at his back and sobbing across his shoulder.
”It’s alright, Michael,” he said, not looking up from her, “you guys go ahead without me.”
”Brandon, this isn’t real! It’s the house manipulating you!”
”I know, man. I know what this is. Took me a minute to realize, you know, when you walked in…Just go.”
Malphas laid his hand back on my shoulder again, this time to console, not to distract.
”Let’s go, bud. Let’s go find Grant.”
”Brandon…”
”Just go, man. Maybe…maybe come visit me sometime…I love you, man,” he said, finally looking up at me with glassy eyes, “we had some laughs, yeah?”
”Yeah, man…yeah, we did.”
”You take care of yourself, brother.”
”You too,” was all I could squeak out around my cracking voice.
As we walked away, closing the door behind us, I was still fighting to hold back the tears. I could still hear Ashley crying from the bedroom, but I would not look back. Malphas and I walked back down to where Max still held the curtain up for us, but I didn’t go through just yet.
”Malphas,” I said, inspiring my companion to face me as he reached for the opening back to the lobby, “if we do put an end to this place, will it set him free?”
”I don’t know, man. I hope so…I really do.”
I took one last glance back, though, in the basement, I couldn’t exactly see the room my friend now occupied. I swore to myself that I would find a way to retrieve him, even if his girlfriend would see me dead at her hands for my efforts. This would not be the first time I had to leave a friend behind, but I could not deny this was at least a far better fate than what Grant was likely enduring.
”I’ll see you soon,” I said, before leaning over and following Malphas through the curtain of reality before it fell closed behind me once more.
Part 8: An Unexpected Detour
”When y’all first arrived in this place,” the old man said, staring around the wide open space surrounding us, “where was Grant before y’all met back up?”
”I don’t know exactly,” I replied, thinking back to what my friend told me that day, “he said it was some sort of trailer park, I think. When he got back here, he said he found himself on one of the higher floors, I think, but he didn’t say which.”
”Mhmm, well, that don’t narrow it down much,” the man I named Max replied, rubbing the stubble of his chin, “I can feel him, but it’s faint.”
”If he was on one of the higher floors,” Malphus added, “maybe…”
”Yeah…reckon that might work.”
With that, the old man headed for the steps, with Malphas and I following along. I can’t say I was exactly thrilled about climbing the stairs again, but I wasn’t about to stroll into any of the rooms unless Max did first.
A good four floors up, I felt the spherical compass dancing around in my pocket. Given the fact that I ran into my folks the last time I was here, I couldn’t help but wonder if they were still shacked up in one of the rooms we passed by. Perhaps the part of my father that was pulled back from Hell could feel the presence of his other half. Of course, I wasn’t about to risk giving those mutated versions of my parents another chance to finish the job they started some years back, just to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
Another two floors up, I was distracted by the sound of what sounded like something charging up a hallway to our right, seemingly coming right at us. When Max moved in front of me, holding his arms out as though to protect me from what was approaching, I braced myself for a fight.
Given the fact that the old man clearly still had power in this place, regardless of the fact it stripped Grant and Malphus of any unique talents, I wasn’t entirely sure if he was at a hundred percent of his capacity. Yes, the more awe-inspiring things I watched him do, the more it secured the knowledge that he was the entity I presumed him to be, but this building operated by its own rules. ‘Different planes, different rules’, Grant told me back on Alberson road, and this place was most certainly something different.
As the floor began to shudder from the apparently heavy footfalls of whatever drew closer by the second, my heart once more pounded like a drum. Max had his fists balled in preparation for a fight, just as he had when he sent Malphas and me running from the pier, but when a familiar coat came into view, I laid a hand on our escort’s shoulder.
”It’s cool. I know this guy,” I said, attempting to convince the old man to relax.
”He ain’t alone,” he replied, maintaining his stiffened posture.
”RUN!” Ed shouted when he was close enough for his words to reach us.
It was then that I noticed his pursuers. There were three of them, from what I could tell, given the enlarged stature of the man in the fedora; each one just as tall, if not taller than the one they were chasing. Their proportions were far more abnormal than Ed’s, though, as were the number of their limbs.
The best way I can describe them, given that my panicked mind was all over the place at the time, was that they almost appeared to be massive spiders, running on their hind legs, with the other six extremities acting as arms as they reached out towards their prey. To make things even more bizarre, they were dressed in some sort of hotel bellboy or doorman garb, with small brimless hats upon their tiny, spherical heads, with eight orange eyes illuminating their fur-lined faces.
They swatted their multiple slender arms at the air in front of them, slicing through the walls at their sides with the slender needle-like claws on their twin-fingered hands. It would seem that Ed was far enough ahead of them that their attacks did not reach their mark, but as he drew closer, I could tell he hadn’t avoided them completely. Dark blood leaked from the many gashes across his torso and arms, but that didn’t stop him from running like a bat out of Hell.
Only a few yards away, he continued screaming for us to run, but Max stood his ground. As soon as the big guy got alongside where Malphas and I stood, with what I presumed to be the ‘custodians’ almost close enough to touch, the old man outstretched both of his arms.
”CLOSE YOUR EYES!” he screamed out as his hands began to glow.
Malphas, Ed, and I huddled together as I tightly shut my eyelids, before a near ear-piercing howl rang out, sounding as though it caused the walls to throb even more violently as the vibration cascaded against them. When our surroundings returned to silence, aside from the soft pulsing soundtrack to the building, I hesitantly opened my eyes.
Max was panting for breath, hunched over while gripping his knees. There was no trace of those things that had chased after Ed, only a cloud of ash softly scattering across the carpeted floor.
”Thanks!” Ed said, still gasping for oxygen himself.
”Don’t mention it,” the old man replied, straightening his back with a long, heavy exhale.
”They was there as soon as I got outta my room,” the big guy said, “fought off a few of ‘em, but they just kept comin’. Didn’t have no other choice but to run.”
Ed held out a hand to Max, who exhaustedly took it in his as the two introduced themselves to one another. As the old man released his grip, Ed held on a moment longer, seemingly studying the man with the caterpillar mustache.
”What are you?” Ed asked, wearing a very serious expression.
”What do ye think I am?” Max replied, lifting his mustache on one side with a smirk.
”Ed,” I said, laying my hand on his tense wrist, “he’s the guy who’s gonna help us take this place down!”
”Is that right?” he said, finally releasing his grip, “that’ll be a sight to see then, won’t it.”
”So, where are you going from here?” I asked, hoping to change the topic of discussion.
”Gotta find my friend’s room. Took me longer than I’d hoped to git outta mine, y’know,” he said with a laugh, “just gotta figure out how to track it down.”
”Max,” I said with a shrug, “don’t suppose we can help Ed get where he’s going before we move on?”
”Kid, we don’t need to waste no more time on…” he cut his words short, taking in my almost pitiful expression, “One last stop ain’t gonna hurt nothin’, I s’pose.”
After a bit of back and forth, Ed informed Max of anything that could be of assistance in tracking where his friend was tucked away. It would seem that he was searching for a man named Richard Dorian, who had apparently originated in a universe parallel to our own; one in which the building still managed to introduce itself to him.
As the far-from-human human entities spoke of things such as alternate realities, planes of existence, and something involving some sort of intersection, it was almost comical to hear such things so casually talked about in very down-to-earth, country accents. I suppose I had never given much thought to any other realities or why such otherworldly beings would settle on such human attributes as accents.
Even when Grant peeled away his mask to reveal who he truly was all along, I didn’t dwell too much on the fact that he wasn’t really from Liverpool, England. Given how the devil has often been portrayed as speaking in that manner, it sort of made sense to me in a way. While I now stood as a bystander while two entities far more ancient than the English language itself discussed these unbelievable things in a southern drawl, I couldn’t help but laugh at the insanity of it all.
”Oh shit,” Malphas said, giggling a little himself, “he’s finally lost it.”
Before I knew it, I was in hysterics along with the man I had previously resented for having the nerve to wear my best friend’s face, laughing so hard that the two country boys with unfathomable power glared at us as though we had just got done passing the dutchie on the left-hand side.
”You’re alright, Malphas,” I said after finally settling down from my much-needed fit.
”Ain’t so bad yourself, bud,” he replied, wiping his eyes with the back of his arm.
”Y’all good?” Max asked, coming off like the responsible adult in a house load of kids.
That only served to make us crack up again, so hard that I beat my fist against my knee, almost gasping for breath as our two elders had been only moments before.
Once we finally got moving again, with the man in the Grant suit and I still giggling from time to time, Max seemed certain that he could locate the entrance to Mr. Dorian’s room, given the apparently unique nature of his personal history. We continued to ascend the many levels of the building, as the old man claimed that our next interval should be on the way, which was apparently the only reason he agreed to go along with it.
Maybe four more floors up from where we ran into Ed, or where he ran into us would be more appropriate, our guide stopped, gazing down another hallway. He looked from one direction to the next, holding up his finger as though he was about to speak, before cutting down the corridor lined with doors on either side, not unlike the one I had strolled through back at the not-so-cozy hotel by the beach.
As Max wrapped his fingers around a doorknob to his left, slowly pushing it open, a woman’s almost deafening scream echoed out from within.
”Nope,” he said, slamming it back shut, “not that one.”
Given his wide-eyed expression, as he stared back at the now-closed door, I almost dread to think what he looked upon. He shook his head quickly as if to scatter the vision of what he saw away from the surface of his mind, before walking another few paces back the way we came.
He was far more apprehensive when he opened the next door, but as he leaned through, turning his head from one side to the other, he seemed a good bit less traumatized by this one.
”I think this might just be the one yer lookin’ fer,” he said, nodding to Ed.
”Need a hand?” I reluctantly asked as the big guy made for the opening.
”Can’t ask ya for that, kid,” he said with a smile, “already took y’all outta yer way already.”
”I dunno, man,” Malphas added, “might be best if we stick together.”
”We ain’t exactly got the luxury of takin’ our time, fellers!” Max barked, looking far more agitated than he had yet.
In all honesty, his somewhat angered expression made me jump a little. Given the reputation of whom I presumed him to be, I was well aware he could have something of a temper and, though I didn’t want to get on his bad side, I had to agree with Malphas on this. Not only did Ed seem as though he could handle himself in a fight, having fended off a good deal of the custodians before making a run for it, but if we could track down his friend, it most certainly couldn’t hurt to build our numbers.
Before I had a chance to add my two cents, it seemed Max already knew where my head was on the topic.
”Alright,” he said with another heavy sigh, “y’all go on then. I’ll make sure the door stays open and take care of any critters that come along.”
Granted, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about entering any more rooms than I had to in this damned place, but something about this Ed guy made me trust him. Even now, looking back at everything, I can’t say what it was about him, but somehow I had a feeling we were going to need his help to bring this place down. As I followed Ed and Malphas through the door, to find that we were on the side of a road somewhere, with nothing much around aside from a small restaurant on the other side of the street. The road itself looked as though it reached a good distance on either side of where we stood, but Ed wasted no time before crossing the street and pushing open the entrance to the diner.
When I walked in, the scent of food being cooked instantly caused my stomach to grumble its enthusiasm. Being that the last thing I had eaten was some snack food from the gas station at which I technically met our new companion for the first time, I was most certainly hungry. Unfortunately, given the fact that the place was just as deserted as the hotel back at the beach, I was quite apprehensive about what was apparently on the grill at the time.
The place looked no different from just about any other eatery just off the highway I had seen. Booths, tables, countertops with cash registers mounted upon them; nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the complete lack of either customers or staff. When I followed Ed through the door to the kitchen in the back, I imagine my horrified expression matched his own when I noticed what it was that provided the enticing scent of cooking meat.
I burst back through the door, gasping for breath as I fought against the urge to retch across the deserted diner. The wide and agonized expression that peered back at me from the severed head on the slab, along with the scatterings of the poor guy’s limbs and what appeared to be organs across the stovetop, would be likely to inspire me to question any meal I may eat in the near future.
”Was…that…him?” I asked, still gasping for breath when the big guy came out behind me.
”Yes and no,” he replied, “you okay? If you need to head back, go on ahead.”
”No…I’m good…just need a minute…”
”Well that was fucked up,” Malphas added, “and I live in Hell! That’s sayin’ something!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, which didn’t entirely help my predicament at the time. After a few moments, once Ed had helped me back out of the little cannibalistic diner, the cold sweat and bubbling guts subsided, allowing me to stand upright once more.
”So, what did you mean by ‘yes and no’ exactly?” I asked, glancing over at the open door that still stood on the other side of the street.
”Ain’t no sense in keepin’ someone in these rooms just to kill ‘em,” Ed said, glancing around where we stood, “ain’t sayin’ it don’t happen, but, naw. He’s still out there somewheres.”
”But how can you be sure that wasn’t him?”
”When we met; Dorian and me, well, it’s a long story, but he wasn’t exactly the only him that was there last time either.”
He made a strange expression while he spoke; something between almost confused and a little bashful in a way, but I had no idea what to think. Given the fact that I knew we didn’t need to waste any more time shooting the shit, I chose to just leave it at that. If he was certain his friend was still alive, I would do what I could to help him, for now at least.
”Way I figure it,” Ed said, diverting back to the matter at hand, “he’ll be up that way.”
The direction he gestured towards looked to be many miles of deserted road; something I had no doubt would take some time to navigate. Dreading to think how long it would take to track this guy down, I began to wish I had just sat this one out after all. I darted my eyes from side to side, in search of anything to move this along, when I noticed the front end of a car, poking out from behind the diner we had just hastily exited.
As we rounded the corner to see several vehicles parked behind the small building, I quickly began peering through windows and pulling open doors to see if any had keys within.
”Don’t suppose you know how to hotwire a car?” I asked Malphas.
”Really!?” he replied, looking insulted, “what, just because I’m a demon, I’m gonna know how to hotwire!? Seriously dude!?”
”Shit, man, I’m sorry. I just…”
”I’m just fuckin’ with you,” he replied with a laugh, “of course, I can hotwire!”
”Dick,” I said, while he began reaching under the steering wheel of a blue SUV.
He was still chuckling when the engine began to rumble, and I couldn’t help but join in. Even Ed was giggling a little as we boarded our chariot. Within moments, we were speeding across the road in search of the elusive Mr. Dorian. With little to nothing besides trees on either side of us, I had no way of knowing how much longer this may take. When I did see signs of something else on the road ahead of us, I can’t say that my mind was prepared for what I saw.
It looked as though maybe thirty or forty black, and somewhat luxurious-looking cars, were bonded together in some sort of cluster. The road we had traveled to get here led right into the rear end of one of the vehicles, with the others having their own roads sprouting from their trunks. The way they conjoined at the hoods was mind-boggling, how one ended and another began almost seamlessly.
”What is this, Ed?” I asked, slowly climbing out of the SUV.
”It’s the intersection, or this buildin’s version of it anyway.”
”The intersection?…wait. Nevermind. Long story, yeah?”
Ed just shrugged, glancing from one road to the next.
”He could’ve gone down any one of ‘em,” he said, gazing out into the beyond, “ain’t no tellin’…”
As a strangely muffled, yet loud scream bellowed out from somewhere in the distance, we all stared straight towards where the sound seemed to be coming from. The volume was definitely escalating; something that assured me that whatever was providing it was nearing. While I braced myself for the possibility of a fight, or some new horrifying sight to fester within my subconscious, a man suddenly came into view, seemingly blinking into reality before us.
”ED!?” he screamed out as he leaped across the hood of one of the cars, timing over the roof and sliding down the trunk, “Ed,” he said, breathing heavily, “they’re coming! We gotta…”
When Ed caught the man in his arms, cradling him against his chest, more aggravated shouting met my ears as a board of truly bizarre-looking creatures bounded across the vehicle the man had just crossed to reach us. In those mere seconds, before our surroundings drastically altered before my eyes, I saw Ed pulling off his coat to reveal bulging and scarred muscles beneath.
The mob of beasts, both large and small, each looking like something inspired by a child’s nightmares, came charging towards us, while Ed’s body appeared to swell and grow, as he tucked the shivering man behind his back. In that instant, as I backed away from the imminent battle for our lives, I felt my body soar, as though some sort of tornado swept me from my feet.
I felt my limbs flail wildly as the violent wind caressed my body before I found myself standing upright on trembling legs, with Malphas at my side and the old man who kept the door open for us before me. I darted my head around, finally understanding that we were back in the hallway of the house on the hill, with the door closed at our backs.
”I’m sorry kid,” Max said, heaving for breath, “I had to bring y’all back. We’re runnin’ outta time.”
It was then that I noticed the walls were pulsing so much more erratically than they had before we entered that room.
”Where’s Ed?”
”I tried, kid, I really did. Was lucky I was able to git you two.”
It was then that I noticed the mounds of ash scattered across the floor, leading me to believe that the old man had to deal with a great many custodians as he fought to keep the door ajar.
”If we got time, we’ll come back for ‘em,” he said, still breathing heavily, “but we gotta find Lucifer before it’s too late.”