"What was that?"
Nathan raised the lamp higher above his head, allowing its thin light to stretch farther into the shadows.
"Did you hear something?"
The girl beside him quivered slightly, but shook her head; her eyes jaundice in the amber light, muscles tense. Nathan tried to give the girl a reassuring smile, squeezed her shoulder, then took Julia's hand into his.
He guided Julia forward; the lamp held aloft, cloaking them in a yellow glow, shadows wrapped around their feet. The cellar seemed to stretch on endlessly; the walls and ceiling obscured by the choking blackness, steps echoing into the deep. Every few steps, Nathan would speak up to communicate hopeful words.
"Shouldn't be far now."
"Just another few minutes."
"We'll be fine, just you see."
"We're going to get out of this."
But Julia never responded to any if these; simply staring down at the worn concrete, or forward into the void.
Nathan frowned slightly, this had not been part of his plan; he doubted that any person would want to venture into a place like this, especially given their circumstances.
If only the road had been clear.
If only they had been able to avoid this subterranean place.
But now he needed a way to cheer Julia up; sooner rather than later. Bad things happen to runners who fall into shock.
"Do you want to hold the light?"
This perked Julia's attention, drawing her eyes up to the old lantern held high above their heads.
"You can have it, if you want."
Julia opened her mouth as of to speak, closed it, and nodded slightly. Nathan lowered the lamp to her, and she reached up to take it.
As it slide into her hand, his shadow touched the outer darkness.
Nathan was flung backwards, swallowed up in the shadows as the noise of tearing and screaming filled the air, high and desperate; growing louder and louder. Bones breaking, muscles ripping, skin peeling, voice rent from lungs.
And then silence.
There was a crack.
A wet pop.
Something splattering across the floor.
Julia stood under the lantern, frozen but for trembling muscles.
"nathan?"
A small whisper escaped.
"Nathan?"
Louder this time, fledgling hope.
Something shifted in the darkness, pallor against the black. It glided forward, seemingly drawn to the light.
Almost a face, white but for the coating of gristle and stains of red, floated into the glow, held up by a long tendril of shadow.
Julia bolted, feet pattering against pavement as she sped herself from the thing, lamp held high to illuminate her path. It followed behind, a groan like thunder echoing in her wake. Every once in a while a shadow would solidify in front of her, swipe with a twisted hand or jointed tentacle.
They ripped into her clothes, her hair; shreds of fabric and bloody chunks pulled from her. But in the distance ahead, a sliver of light, not yellow but white; a gap between doors.
The outside.
Julia sprinted to it, desperate, frantic; the rumbling rushing toward her.
She flung them open and raced out into the moonlight, dropping the lantern in her panic; it sparked and shattered as it collided with the concrete.
Freed from its awkward weight, Julia raced farther ahead; away from the churning void. The streetlights and store windows blurred past Julia in her flight, the empty street a haven from the horror in the cellar. She turned corner after corner, putting as many barriers and as much distance between her and It as possible. Her legs pumping against the ground, her lungs heaving.
Julia nearly collided with Him as she rounded another corner. Her legs have out beneath her, and she sprawled before Him; neck craning up as He peered down at her.
The reason she and Nathan had run in the first place, the one they tried to flee. The reason they had tried to go through the cellar originally.
He stretched up into the sky; somehow never ending but clearly seen. White head cocked to one side, arms and legs contorted horribly, body reaching farther and farther away.
His hand began to reach to her; pale, twisting fingers spreading wide, inches from her face.
And He stopped.
His hand retracted, His face directed at something else. Julia turned, and her eyes fell upon It; a massive, amorphous silhouette in the middle of the street.
He seemed to straighten up, seemed to get taller still. For a moment, all was still, then It moved too; sliding forward, becoming something different.
Stilt like legs and dragging arms, long, cruel fingers, shoulders and warped body. From its depths, the pale visage emerged, as though from deep water, stretched out on a long neck, perched above its horrid form.
The two stared at each other; one almost curious, the other indifferent. He tilted His head to the side, and slowly, almost painfully so, It did the same.
It moved again, stepping over Julia, pointed legs carving gashes into the asphalt. White, semi-faces locked on each other.
It slashed forward, claws ripping into His chest, black ooze splattering across the pavement. As He stumbled back, there was a sense of something that was almost surprise, almost shock. He had bled, actually been cut by this thing.
He swiped back, awkward limbs slamming into its form. It shifted backward, tendrils shooting out of it to keep it upright.
They righted themselves and smashed together, something like an inaudible scream filled Julia's head as their arms twisted around each other. Tentacles sprouted from His back and lashed out at It; and It returned in kind. Black tendrils colliding against shadow appendages.
Suddenly It seemed to swallow up all the shadows around Itself, and more arms sprouted from Its form; flailing wildly, drawing black muck with each swipe.
It's legs rooted themselves in the street, and It shifted, throwing Him into the ground. There earth shook silently as His impossible body was cast down.
It stepped forward, raising Its arm above Him.
From deep within His chest, a single, dark tentacle, more solid than the previous, lashed upward; up into Its face.
The crack tore into the quite, rended it apart.
It's face smashed open, shadows streaming out of it, Its form flailing and growing faint. From Its depths, something shot out at Julia, a thick silhouette of a thousand, writhing fingers. They wrapped around her arm, digging into her flesh.
The horse scream echoed into the sky as skin was stripped away and muscle was spliced apart and bone was torn out.
And DARKNESS washed over her.
***
They moved Their body, not the small body, Their true body, and the nearest thing's head spun around to face Them. Several of the black, flying things inside the thing tried to get out, but They fixed that. They removed the false space that the things had made and crushed the black things inside.
The other thing made noise at them with its mouth, and opened its jacket. The black flying things swarmed Their small body and tore out Their ears and eyes, but this was not a problem; They had only useless ears and eyes, They used their true body to hear and see. The real problem was the thing.
They had to fix the problem.
They moved Their true body again, and the thing crumpled into itself, crushed the thing inward.
One of the black things pecked its way into Their smaller body's head and began to rip out the smaller body's brain. This meant that They had to part ways. What was left of the mind of the smaller body screamed out at It, but this was not a problem.
It left and took another small body who's mind was able to hold it. There were so many small bodies to take if It needed more to solve the problems.
And there were always problems for ENDLESS to fix.
***
He had always hated hospitals.
The hallway was a blur around him as he streaked through it; legs pushing forward against tiled floors.
It had been more than just the connection to death and disease, or even that, despite putting on the mask of cleanliness, the places were actually filthy.
Farther back in the hallway, the sound of something warping could be heard; the high, eery tone, mixed with the sound of chirping birds and subtle wind.
It had been more about the knowledge that people were recorded there; thousands if infants having their existence marked down in cold, mechanical writing.
His feet stung and his eyes watered and his lungs burned and his tongue throbbed.
No matter what you did later, no matter who you became or who you interacted with, you couldn't escape it.
He slammed into the door with his shoulder, the pain rocketing up into his neck, clouding his brain; but the door gave way, allowed him passage through.
You can't escape your origin.
He looked back long enough to see the doorframe bend out of the way, to see an untouched wilderness in its absence, to see the world collapse back onto itself seconds after.
You can't escape your first years.
What touched him was not a hand, nothing like a hand at all; just an image, a thought of what a hand should look like, had looked like at one point. But it was not a hand.
You can't escape yesterday, or the day before, or the year before that.
He tried to run forward, to get even a step farther; but as his foot touched the ground, it gave out beneath his weight and he skidded to the floor. He had enough time to gaze, with horrified wonderment, at the twisted, broken, infant's foot connected to his ankle.
You can't escape the years and decades and centuries and eons before you were born.
The un-hand reached out again; stroked, mother like, his exposed throat.
You can't escape the past.
In the hallway mirror above, he watched his neck shrink down, smaller and smaller; changing to something it had once been, his scream rising up to become a shrill, piercing squeal. There was a dull spike of pain, and everything faded away.
You can't escape PAST.
***
The doors of the church rattled in their frames as something smashed into them; the sound echoing off the marble walls.
The preacher lowered his arms and glared at the entry; the watchers in the pews tuned to look at the source if the noise. Some stood and faced the entrance way.
The wood peeled back, dust poured from holes that widened on the surface, the frame crumpled inward.
Through the holes, something pale could be seen moving about; shifting from side to side.
The watchers made their way toward the entrance; drifting forward with the slightest ease.
The doors creaked and moaned as they began to fall apart, then limply collapsed, parts shattered and disintegrated as they hit the floor.
And nothing.
Through the decimation, only the empty hall could be seen. The watchers shifted, almost confusedly; some turned back to the preacher for guidance.
The preacher did not move or speak, instead stroking the chain around his neck, seemingly in contemplation. He continued to stare and the breaking door.
And then a section of the ceiling collapsed.
In the dust and rubble, something almost like and animal moved. Awkward, crooked back and warped, eyeless face; four strangely jointed legs and bony, black and gnarled protrusions sprouted from Its back; a set of slowly undulating, fleshy tails twisted behind it. Where it walked the floor became cracked and slumped inward, window frames around It rusted and fell. The nearest enlightened hissed and rushed forward, arms outstretched.
The beast turned to face him, head peeling open to reveal a set of jagged, human like teeth.
It pounced forward, wrapping the midsection of the man in its mouth before whipping its head sideways. Liquid spewed from his halved body, remains crumpling and disintegrating where they hit the floor.
More watchers charged to the creature, hissing loudly. Some collapsed to the floor as their legs splintered beneath them. Those who remained swarmed in, attempting to punch or claw.
The monster lashed out with its tails, crushing bodies and severing limbs. The enlightened who managed to grasp Its form pulled away stumps of hands and arms, flesh unwinding and dropping from their collapsing bones.
The preacher stepped out from behind the pulpit, brandishing a gnarled staff at the beast.
And Hiiln spoke.
"Foul, archaic monstrosity. You have outlasted your purpose in this world."
He took the amulet from around His neck; holding out the odd, hodgepodge religious symbol.
And crushed it in His hand.
Immediately the broken pieces twisted and wrapped themselves back together again; remaking their form.
"We have felt our echoes from across the great void, learned from our mistakes. We will not be banished this time."
Hiiln made a slashing motion with His staff, and a coil of ebon flame shot toward the creature.
The fire caught the beast across Its shoulders, flesh stripped away to reveal a black endoskeleton. It didn't even pause as It continued to tear into the nearest enlightened, his body already sinking into the floor.
The beast turned to Its attacker, yellowed teeth spread wide. Hiiln punched forward and a ball of black fire erupted from His hand. The creature dodged to the side and sprinted forward, pews crumpling easily under its influence. The watchers who remained tried to give pursuit, but could only claw helplessly across the ground as their bodies continued to break down.
Hiiln swung His staff and it connected with the beast's head; there was and audible crack as unearthly bones splintered. The creature whipped back with its tails, slamming Hiiln to the ground and rending apart the priest robe. More shadowy flames exploded from around Hiiln and It was flung back, flesh scorched away from Its body.
Hiiln was immediately back unto His feet and punched the ground, sending a line of dancing black flames toward the beast. It rolled out of the way, though losing one of Its tails, and charged Hiiln.
It slammed into Hiiln, knocking Him back; It wrapped its mouth around Hiiln's arm and pulled down, shattering His shoulder blade. Hiiln reached out and clutched the beast's head, and It was encased in dark fire, skin and meat and bones beginning to immolate.
The air began to vibrate.
Seeming to realize what was coming, Hiiln tore His arm free and slammed His staff into the creature again, pushing it back. Hiiln's body appeared to shimmer slightly, and He vanished. The creature reared it head back and the world shuddered.
And everything sublimed.
Standing alone in the crater, black flames still licking at what remained of Its flesh, the beast plodded along. It had perhaps several hours left before Its own influence destroyed it, just as surely as the flames would have. There was still much it could do in that time.
Behind it, back in the heart of the crater, particles of organic matter began to link themselves together.
And another body of CHAOS started to grow.
***
There was something dripping onto the floor.
pak
pak
pak
Slow, methodical noise echoing around the abandoned prison.
pak
pak
pak
The moonlight poured in through an open ceiling grate; the only source of illumination.
pak
pak
pak
The white glow caste itself around two figures, pulling their forms from the shadows.
pak
pak
pak
One was a girl, prone on the metal walkway; the other was almost like a man.
pak
pak
pak
But it was only vaguely like a man.
pak
pak
pak
SSSSHHHRRRRRIIIIIIKKKKK
The noise of meat torn from bone; pale teeth flashing it the darkness; head rearing back, splashing the walls with crimson warmth.
The bleached, emaciated man; intestines bursting from His abdomen, yet never, ever, could He be full. Atop His head, perched like a crown from some bygone age, the rotting head of a goat.
But though He was alone in that place, He was not all that was there.
The earth began to shake, rumbling and shifting, pulling upward. Concrete and rebar and dirt, twisting and melding together; growing into something more. The Man turned from His feast; watching the Thing sprout.
The high, animal screen exploded from Him as He flung Himself down at It. He tore and ripped at the Thing with impossible strength, pieces of metal and stone breaking and pulled from Its form.
The ground rose up, shoving Him back and sending forward a set of flailing, twisting appendages.
He dodged to the side, lashing out to easily shatter the earthy tentacles.
Unnoticed, on the level above, the corpse of the girl was pulled into the shadows.
He dashed forward, rolling out of the way as concrete spikes sprouted from the ground. He leapt forward, smashing into the Thing and shoving it backward.
Something shot out of the blackness and He was thrown back; sliding on the rough concrete.
The rumbling earth and the shifting darkness stood together, slowly approaching the prone man.
He rolled back to a crouched position and retreated a step.
And They materialized beside him.
One was a massive man, His head a mound of black fur and muscle; the horned likeness of a bull crafted in its flesh.
The other was almost like a woman, slim and lithely. But she had no human eyes and her legs ended in hooves and thorny antlers twisted from out of her tawny hair.
The others did not stop, did not slow; they cared not for the number of adversaries, only that the problems be solved.
The bull man charged forward, forcing back the approaching earth while the deer woman rushed to the darkness.
It shifted at Her approach, copying Her form and movements. Bone and shadow antlers clashed as face and skull were brought together.
The bull man slammed his fist into the peak of the Thing, blasting away a It's upper half. He raised His first again, preparing another strike.
A black, skeletal beast tackled Him to the ground, ebon flames licking at what was left of Its flesh; the creature biting and tearing with its bony jaw and claws.
The growing mound returned to the emaciated man, lashing out with concrete arms.
The earth, the beast, the shadows.
The deer, the goat, the bull.
Three of five and three of three.
Fear and Need and Concept and Truth.
All together on a little sphere of water and dirt.
A sphere of matter.
The medium of MASS.
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