Darkness in Appalachia

Robyn didn’t know how long they had been traveling through the forest but was pretty sure that they should have already reached her home. She tried to turn her head to see their surroundings but Ameet held her too tightly. All she could do was lay in its arms and try to think of everything that she was about to lose. Images of entities that she had become close with flashed through her mind, ending with Puk and Walker. She wondered how Walker was doing and if he was even still alive. Around and around she went, like a dog chasing its own tail. She needed to do something to distract herself.

“Are we nearly there?” Her voice was muffled by its chest but she was sure it could hear her. She just didn’t know whether or not it would answer.

“Almost. I had to circle around some areas to avoid certain entities. That promise you made me make has made this take longer than it should have.” Its arms squeezed her tighter and it pressed her face more firmly against its chest, cutting off her air. “It’s really pissing me off that I had to take the long way.”

When it released her, she caught her breath before asking. “Why did you need to avoid certain entities?”

“You really are a stupid bitch. If I had gone through their territories, they would have sensed me and tried to stop me. If I had hurt one of them, you wouldn’t tell me how to find the journals. Then I would have to waste a lot of time searching for them.” With every word it squeezed her harder, forcing her face back into its chest but also causing something to snap in her legs. She tried to scream but couldn’t get enough air, barely managing a weak grunt.

It laughed, a chilling sound that stole the air from her lungs more effectively than its attempts to suffocate her. “You are going to pay dearly for causing me so much trouble. I may not be able to harm your friends myself but I bet they will suffer when you start screaming. Just like you did when I took out that stupid mutt earlier.”

For the first time in her life, Robyn felt hate for another creature. So much that she refused to think of Ameet as anything more than an it, a monster. It didn’t deserve to be considered on the same level as other living beings and was worth less than the garbage she threw in the trash. The hate cleared her mind, pushing away the pain and fear that she had been feeling. She held onto the hate, needing the clarity that it brought to help protect her home.

She saw the light changed and sensed that they were leaving the forest, either to enter her yard or one of the numerous small clearings that dotted the area. Ameet slowed down and loosened its grip on her.

“We are nearly to your house. Where do I go once we get there?”

She turned her head slightly to glare up at its face but kept her voice weak. “Go around to the back of the barn. There’s a set of doors there that lead into the ground.”

It put on a burst of speed, running quickly across her yard and around the barn. It dropped her to the ground so that it could both its hands to open the doors. She landed on her side facing the house and prayed that no one inside would see her before she was able to get it to the gate. Ameet grabbed her roughly by one arm and jerked her back up, choosing to sling her over its shoulders like a sack of potatoes for the trip into the dark. She bit back a scream as it roughly grabbed her broken leg to hold her in place and headed down the steps.

“That was your last chance to get help. You could have screamed and they would have ran out of that house like fleas leaving a dead body. I even tried to help you scream so that you’d have a chance.”

“Fuck you.” She cursed him without thinking.

It twisted her leg, grinding the broken ends of her bones against each other and causing her to grit her teeth to avoid making a sound. “I don’t fuck garbage. Something like you is only meant to be consumed and thrown away. The only way you can give me pleasure is to scream as I rip you apart.”

It strode quickly down the tunnel, eager to reach its destination. It didn’t take long before the tunnel ahead of them began to widen and a glow began to emanate from runes etched into the walls. It stopped just short of the barrier that guarded the gate and looked into the large chamber beyond.

“I don’t see another chamber off of this one” It growled and pulled her off its shoulder. Holding her up by the neck with her body turned to face the gate.

She struggled to speak with the hand squeezing her throat. “It’s hidden. The entrance has an illusion cast on it so that it looks like a stone wall and there’s another barrier you have to go through to reach the chamber.” She needed him to enter the barrier for her plan to work.

It shook her and her teeth came together with her tongue between them, filling her mouth with blood. “I don’t believe you.”

She tried to spit but the blood just ran out of her mouth. “Why would I lie? If it’s not there, you will leave this chamber and kill everything on this reserve.”

It growled and seemed to consider her words for a long time. She wanted to speak more to encourage him to enter but was afraid that he would realize that it was a trick. Eventually, it pulled her against its body, holding her around her chest with one arm like a child holds a doll. It stepped forward slowly and Robyn could feel them beginning to pass through the barrier. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax just a little. This was the first step to making sure that everyone here was safe, at least for today.

Once he was completely inside the barrier, he moved across the chamber to the other wall. Feeling it to see if he could find the entrance. “Where is the other chamber?”

She laughed, a hard, hollow sound without a trace of amusement in it. “You idiot. Did you really think that I would lead you to my families journals?”

It spun her around, holding her up in the air and shaking her, making her head snap back and forth on her neck. “What do you mean? Where are the journals you promised me?”

She waited until it stopped shaking her before spitting a mouthful of blood into its face. “The journals are somewhere safe from a monster like you. You can’t get to them or any of the entities on this property now.”

Its jaw dropped and its eyes widened in shock. Robyn would have laughed at how comical it looked if the situation wasn’t so dire. It tossed her aside, and raced for the way it had come in, slamming against the barrier and rebounding back into the center of the chamber. Screaming, it hurled spells at the barrier over and over again in a frenzy.

Robyn lay crumpled on the ground, her body turned so that she was staring at the wall of the chamber and unable to see what was happening behind her. A hard smile twisted her lips as she listened to it scream in fury. It wouldn’t be able to leave this chamber except through the gate and who knew what waited on the other side or where it would lead.

She was snatched roughly from the ground and squeezed tightly against the body of Ameet. It carried her over to the barrier and tried to pass through the same way it had come in. Her body began to pass through the barrier and it made a high pitched shriek that was filled with a bloodthirsty excitement. This turned to a deep roar of rage as its body was prevented from passing through with her.

It jerked her back through and grabbed her by her throat once again. “Why can’t I get out? I have a guardian as an escort the same way I did when I came in.” Its voice had become little more than an animalistic growl and its face was twisting in ways that no human face ever could.

“A guardian can escort an entity in but it takes more than that to get back out. Unless, the entity leaves through the gate.” She narrowed her eyes and gave him her hard smile. “The only way an entity leaves this chamber through the barrier is with a contract.”

Its eyes spun wildly in its sockets as its lips receded from it teeth, giving it a feral appearance. “Then give me a contract. Make me one that will allow me to leave but won’t bind me to the rules. Otherwise, I’ll destroy you body and soul.”

She laughed. “You were already planning on ripping my soul from my body and using the power it would provide to hurt innocent people and entities, remember. I would much rather you destroy my soul than have it help you to become more powerful.” It shook her angrily. “Besides, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The contract is created using magic and you have paralyzed mine.”

It screamed and threw her. She landed on her back close to the center of the chamber but it was on her almost before she touched the ground. It kicked and stomped her defenseless body, not bothering to aim but lashing out like a child throwing a tantrum. Robyn grunted, unable to catch her breath long enough to cry out as her bones snapped and were crushed beneath its feet. She could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness and embraced the oblivion that it would bring. She had succeeded in protecting her home and she believed that it would probably kill her in its rage before it could remove her soul.

“Stop. Leave her alone.” Robyn barely heard the voice through her grunts and the sounds of his feet hitting her. “We’ll help you get what you want just stop.”

Ameet stopped kicking and just stood with his foot on her ribs, applying just enough pressure to restrict her breathing. “How could you help me get what I want?”

Robyn turned her head to see who was speaking, knowing that she should be able to recognize the voice but not able to do so. Blood ran into her eyes, blurring her vision and making it hard to see but she could tell that there were two figures on the other side of the barrier. One short figure wearing black and a taller figure dressed in a light tan color. She struggled to fight back the inviting darkness long enough to find out who had come to save her.

“Tell us what you want and we will come up with some way to give it to you.”

It screamed at them. “I want to leave this barrier and be free to do what I want. Can you do that for me?”

There was a slight hesitation and a different voice answered. “Only a guardian can release you from this barrier. It was built by the original guardian and each guardian since has added another layer. It’s completely impregnable.”

It growled at them. “Then how can you help me? You’re too pathetic and weak to be able to do what I need.”

“Robyn is still the guardian. I’m sure if you let me talk to her, I can convince her to create a contract for you. But you might have to agree to something in return.”

It pressed down on Robyn’s ribs and she grunted. “You want to negotiate with me. Who do you think I am?”

“You’ve already seen the lengths that she will go to protect us. If you don’t agree to one little thing, she will just let you kill her and you will be forced to go through the gate. We both know that there is no way of knowing what’s on the other side of a gate or in what kind of location you’ll end up in. Is it really worth the risk when you just have to concede one point to avoid it?”

The pressure on her chest eased just a little. “What would I have to agree to?”

She could hear the two figures whispering together but couldn’t tell what they were saying. Ameet ground his foot into her impatiently but didn’t otherwise rush them.

“You would have to agree to leave this reserve and the entities on it alone. The contract would allow you to leave this barrier and then immediately evict you from our property. You could do whatever you wanted outside of here but you could never cross the barrier onto this property again.”

It laughed. “So you would sacrifice everyone else to save your sorry asses? I don’t know why I would expect anything else. And you can convince this heap of shit to agree to that?” It kicked Robyn hard enough to scoot her body across the rocky surface towards the two figures.

She heard a dismayed gasp and a low, angry growl. “Yes. Yes. She will agree if you let me talk to her. Just don’t hurt her anymore and bring her close enough to hear me.”

It was silent as it nudged her with its foot, clearly wanting to kick her across the floor rather than carry her. “Fine. But don’t think you’ll talk to her where I can’t hear you. You’re not going to make some kind of stupid plan that will cause more trouble for me.” It picked her up by one arm and dragged her across the floor, grinning wickedly at her cries of pain as her bones ground against each other. The two figures yelled at him from the other side of the barrier, pointlessly beating their hands against it so hard they nearly drowned out her cries.

It dropped her on the ground in front of the barrier, her outstretched arm pointed towards them and her head resting on her chin facing them. They kneeled on the other side, one of them placing their hand opposite hers to that it seemed they could just reach out and grab each other.

“Robyn, can you hear me?”

The voice was thick with unshed tears but Robyn could finally recognize it. She fought through the darkness trying to take over her mind so that she could see her and the person she’d brought with her. “Puk.” Speaking was hard with her cut tongue and the blood that continued flowing from her mouth. She probably wouldn’t be able to say more than a few words at a time.

“That’s right and David’s with me. We’re going to get you out of there.” Her voice was choked with the tears that were now streaking down her face.

“Walker.”

“He’s at the house. Beryl is working on him as we speak.” David spoke this time, deep voice made even deeper by the anger he was trying to suppress.

Robyn closed her eyes. “Good..... Leave.” Each word took a great deal of effort and she was so tired.

Puk banged on the barrier with her fist. “We’re not leaving. Didn’t you hear what we were talking about? You need to make a contract for that thing.”

Robyn didn’t open her eyes. “Can’t....need to....protect...”

More banging, this time it wasn’t just Puk. “You’re job is to protect the entities that live on this reserve. Not the entire world and you can’t protect them if you let him leave through the gate. He could just come back later and then you wouldn’t be here to protect them. This contract is the only thing that will keep them safe from him.”

Robyn’s eyes opened in shock as David raised his voice angrily. She focused on him with some trouble and realized that he seemed to be angry with her. “Why...?”

He lowered his face until he was at eye level with her, nearly laying on the ground in the process. “You’re going to leave the job half done because it’s easier, right? If you die today, you can say that you did your job. But what then, you will leave everyone here open to attack. There will be no guardian until the gate chooses another and that guardian won’t have any kind of training to fight with. You’ll leave everyone here as sitting ducks for the next stronger entity to tear apart. Dying today doesn’t protect anyone, it just makes it someone else’s problem.”

Her eyes widened and anger filled her. It felt like he was telling her that she was just giving up. Couldn’t he tell what the situation was here? Didn’t he know that she would still be fighting if she could?

“No....magic....ass.” She narrowed her eyes to slits and glared at him, spitting the words out with her blood.

It kicked her, sliding her closer to the barrier and pushing her hand through to connect with Puk’s. Puk grabbed her and seemed about to pull but Robyn hissed at her, hoping that Ameet wouldn’t notice. Meeting her eyes, Puk saw her eyes move from one side to the other as if trying to say ‘No.’

“I can help with that no magic part. In fact, I would love to help with that.” His voice was full of malicious glee.

Puk held Robyn’s hand but didn’t pull, instead she just tightened her grip and raised her eyes to Ameet, trying to appear submissive. “How could you help with that? The contract requires a guardian’s specific magic and Robyn says that she doesn’t have any left.”

“She’s not out of magic she just can’t use it at the moment. I paralyzed her and her magic so that it’s trapped inside her body.”

David’s voice was filled with disgust. “So you were kicking around someone who couldn’t defend themselves. What kind of bastard...” Puk prevented him from finishing that sentence with her hand on his arm, afraid that if they insulted him he would hurt Robyn even more.

“Do you allow a fly to defend itself before you swat it? No, you pluck its wings off if you can and watch it struggle. This is no different.” It kicked her again, but not as hard as earlier. “She’s nothing but a fly and I’ve removed her wings so she can’t annoy me.”

Puk somehow managed to keep her voice submissive, even though inside she was seething. “And you can help her to use her magic? That would be really helpful to all of us.”

“Oh,yeah. I can help her if she agrees to create the contract for me. But, she isn’t going to like how this is going to work.”

Robyn gritted her teeth, her stomach sinking at the joy in its voice. “How?”

“The paralysis only works on magic that is inside your body. If I remove a portion of your soul after you’ve spent some time focusing on the spell, the spell will automatically be performed once the piece of soul outside of your body is big enough to have enough power.”

Robyn closed her eyes, able to tell by the tone of his voice that his was going to be an extremely painful process. Puk’s grip tightened on her hand again, as if trying to reassure her.

“But, when you remove souls isn’t the body destroyed. We saw what you did to that child in the forest. We won’t agree to this if Robyn is killed in the process.” David was determined to make sure that Robyn would make it through this.

Evil laughter filled the chamber. “I don’t have to open up the body like that. I just prefer to do it that way. Souls that are filled with pain and fear offer up more power to me when I devour. That child was especially good. She was with me for several of my kills, including when I took her parents. She also had to go through some particularly harsh training on the way here so that she would be able to open a hole for me in your barrier. By the time we made it here, she was nearly begging me to let her die and join them. Well, she’s with them now.”

His laughter filled Robyn with fury and she knew she would endure anything if it meant getting rid of him. She met Puk’s eyes and saw the same fury reflected back at her. David had stood and was glaring at Ameet with his fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails had cut his palm and blood was dripping from it onto the ground. Robyn’s head was finally clear and she knew what she had to do.

Puk read her resolve in her eyes and spoke for her. “She’ll do it. How will she let you know when she’s done focusing on the spell?”

“I’ll just give her a few minutes and then begin my part. If she isn’t done with hers by then, I guess I’ll be ripping her soul out for nothing.”

David bent down and met Robyn’s eyes, maintaining eye contact as she took several deep breaths before closing her eyes. She pushed all the pain and anger out of her mind and began focusing on the spell she needed to perform. She repeated it over and over, branding it into her mind and soul to make sure it would be completed when Ameet began removing her soul.