Fathom by Mikel Parry

CH –CHECKMATE SUICIDE

Time can seem to have no beginning or end; just an arbitrary number of experiences that somehow translates into its passing. Time and space harmonizing together can create a plane of alternate existence that has no purpose, meaning, or direction; it just is. That’s where Demo now found himself. All points of reality had been condensed into nothing. He was adrift in some new place, some other existence, out of reach of everything he knew. Lights flickered as they flew past him like lightning bugs in the night sky. Occasionally one would burst and the remnants of a past memory would erupt from it like an exploding firecracker, some were his, others were Spencer’s. He wanted to rest. He was so, so tired. Maybe he had finally passed the threshold and lost himself completely. Maybe both he and Spencer were caught in a never ending wave of subconscious memories. Is this really how it would all end? He felt his load lighten as he began to fade away. Then, from somewhere far off in the endless void, an echo bounced off the walls in a foggy cloud of light. As it whizzed past Demo, he watched it weave through his fingers before disappearing back into the nothingness.

“Demo, get up! Demo, please get up!”

Demo? Who was Demo? This question seemed oddly complicated. He knew he was somebody, but who? It was shrouded in darkness. Was he Demo? He knew that name. It meant something to him somehow.

“Demo, don’t die on me! Wake up now! I ain’t gonna lose you!”

Another light filled cloud shot past his head. But then something seemed strange, a feeling that someone was near. He spun around to see a vaguely familiar face. It was someone he had known from some other place and time, only a much younger version. He floated up and grabbed a hold of Demo’s shoulders tightly.

“They need you! They need you now! Wake up!”

Demo heard the man’s words but struggled to understand them. The man was shaking Demo wildly.

“You’ve got to wake up! You’ve got to go back! Listen to me! It’s Anthony, don’t you remember anything?”

Demo’s head began to wrench in pain.

What’s happening to me?

From somewhere inside him a maniacal voice pummeled his thoughts with its presence.

“He’s inside of me! I can’t get him out!”

Anthony looked Demo in the eyes.

“You’ve got to fight him! Don’t let him win! You can do this! Lock him away! It’s your mind! You can control it!”

Demo thrashed violently with pain. So many thoughts, so many feelings, it was too much to deal with.

“I can’t! I can’t keep him out! He’s too strong!”

“But you’re stronger! Remember what you’re fighting for! Remember why you came here!”

That’s when all the pure moments from Demo’s hardened life came to the forefront. All the love he had been given by Bob Cat and Jacky. He wasn’t just fighting for himself; he was fighting for his family; his freakishly woven together family that had been ripped apart by the putrid forces of evil. Demo let out a guttural scream. He was trying to silence the voices clamoring in his head. He needed to get out.

Kicking frantically in the air, he began to push himself through the void. As he pushed on, visuals from his and Anthony’s memory swirled around him. He was trying to find the source of the clamorous calls of his name. He was Demo, Demotreus Ward, freak, detective, and loner. He was remembering himself again. With all the effort he could muster he fought on. He paused for only a brief moment to look behind and see the almost opaque apparition of Anthony Dredge.

“Anthony, hurry! I can get you out!”

Anthony shook his head and raised one hand high and called to Demo.

“This is my out. I can finally be at peace. Thank you and goodbye!”

Demo’s heart ached but he knew he had to keep going. Suddenly he was engulfed by a tunnel of light.

“Demo, get up! Demo, please get up! Say something, man! Come on!”

Demo’s eyes rolled around in his head like a pair of loose marbles. He was coming to, but to what he wasn’t sure. He felt himself go weightless as if being carried.

“I’ve got some of your damned fancy water! Come back for me, Demo!”

He could feel the sensation of something cold drizzling down his throat. His lethargic reaction to it forced his gag reflex. He spat out a cup’s worth of water onto the floor. Seconds later, he heaved up every last bit of the sickness he was feeling inside. When he caught his breath, he looked up into the face of a very distraught Bob Cat.

“I thought I’d lost you! I thought you’d been sucked in!”

Demo smiled weakly at his friend. Bob Cat was a complete wreck, both emotionally and physically. The two had endured far more then either believed possible.

“I thought I’d lost myself.”

Bob Cat unexpectedly threw his arms around Demo in a bear hug. He let loose a part of him he normally held back.

Flushing with embarrassment, he let go as quickly and croaked out, “We need to go.”

Demo peered over at Spencer, now realizing he had escaped. What he saw was an empty shell of a man. He walked closer ignoring Bob Cat. He put his head close to Spencer’s and stared deeply into his eyes. He wanted to make sure this was really over. Suddenly Spencer’s hands shot up and grabbed Demo’s throat, then twitched and fell limp. Demo staggered backwards barely managing to keep his balance. The sudden commotion sent Bob Cat into a frenzied panic.

“What the hell was that? I thought he was supposed to be a vegetable!”

Demo watched while the fearsome, bloodthirsty eyes of Spencer the Bloody Vulcan went dark. It was over. Both he and Anthony Dredge had finally been released from their damned prisons.

“It’s over, Bobby. Spencer and Anthony are finally gone. Where are Roslin and Jo?”

Bob Cat smirked slightly before answering.

“Let’s just say Roslin is taking a nap, and Jo’s a little tied up with work.”

Demo glanced around to see the incapacitated Roslin lying flaton the floor.

“You knocked him out cold!”

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say it felt wonderful.”

The two began their escape. Demo glanced into the control room where Jo was tied up with cables and gagged by his own dirty sock. He mumbled something indiscernible and was struggling against his restraints when Demo turned back to Bob Cat.

“There’s one last thing we need to do here.”

“Already ahead of you on that one . . .”

Bob Cat removed Jo from the control room with all the delicacy of a Sumo wrestler. Next he turned into a technology smashing wrecking ball. He crushed chairs into monitors and ripped cables free from the wall. Sparks rained down like an electric shower. The two friends worked valiantly to destroy as much of the Fathom machine as humanly possible. Once satisfied, they knew they better make a run for it. From the forsaken Fathom room, they sped through the building, slamming the highly secure doors behind them. Once in the hall, they casually walked as fast as they could get away with past all kinds of agents before practically falling out of the secret door that led to the alley. From there they ran for the car that they hoped would help them run for their lives.

Demo stared vacantly, trying to catch his breath while Bob Cat cranked the engine. He could still feel Spencer’s presence inside of him. He had taken a piece of the monster with him into the real world. Now he would be tainted forever by the soul of a serial killer.

“There’s something else we have to do.”

Bob Cat slammed on the brakes before they had gone a block. He burned the tires viciously against the pavement, taking an abrupt turn into a back street. He slammed on the brakes again, shoved it into park, and got out. Demo followed, not knowing why they’d stopped.

“Bobby, what’s going on?

“I’m ending this. Right here, right now. I’m done with this shite! I’m done with all of it!”

Demo raced around the car to Bob Cat’s side. All of the feelings of torment, pain, and frustration that Bob Cat had stuffed down were pouring out like lava from a volcano.

“Bobby, you can’t give up! We’re so close to the finish line! I know what to do! Don’t you see? We can finally be free of this nightmare!”

Bob Cat spat at the ground, and Demo grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Bobby, don’t do this. Please!”

Then as if struck by a bullet, Demo fell backwards. His arms flailed through the air until he hit the pavement with a sickening thud. Bob Cat had hit him. Hit him right between the eyes.

“Consider that my resignation! We’ve been through a lot together, but I can’t handle this! I’m not you! I don’t understand anything that’s going on! We’ve lost everything; our lives, our families, and Jacky . . .”

Bob Cat trailed off at the mention of Jacky and seemed to visually deflate.

“No, I’ve done my part. I can’t play your sidekick any more. I’m out, Demo. This is goodbye.”

A pulsating pain permeated Demo’s body when he tried to get up from the ground.

“Bobby, please don’t do this!”

“I already have.”

Bob Cat turned his back on Demo. He was suffering, but remained firm in his decision. Tossing a crumpled up piece of paper at Demo, he got back in his car and drove off.

Demo got back on his wobbly feet. Tears pooled just behind his eyes, straining to burst free. He’d just lost the only person left in his despicable life that mattered to him. He was finally completely alone. All of his life he’d been an outcast freak. Only a few brave souls had ever attempted to endure his excessive behavior. Despite all of his efforts, he just could never manage to be the one thing he wanted most of all - normal. A burning desire rose up in him. He knew his next role would ultimately end his life; but it was a role that desperately needed to be played out. Opening the crinkled paper that Bobby had thrown at him, he read it carefully. Then he walked out to the street and hailed a taxi. Not allowing the driver to speak first, he asked

him for some paper and a pen.

The cabbie looked annoyed but gave him what he had asked for. Demo scribbled something down then told the driver to wait and began jogging back to the building he had just escaped. Once there he wedged the note into the crack in the door and walked back to the cab. He barked out some directions as it got into the back seat. This was the end of the line.

The ride up the elevator was eventless as usual. People of means always seemed to live in the most boring of places. Once it stopped, he stepped out and raised a hand to knock on the door when it opened quietly by itself. Standing in the doorway was the judge. His warm face greeted Demo appreciatively.

“Well, hello, my boy, it’s good to see you! I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me! I can’t begin to repay such an enormous debt. You saved my life! Can I get you anything?”

Demo ignored him. He looked down on the familiar scene; an immaculately clean home, fine furniture, exquisite décor, and an elaborate chess board. The chess board . . . something still intrigued him about it. The pieces had again been meticulously placed in a way that ensured that the same side would inevitably lose.

“Can I sit?”

“Of course, of course, by all means, make yourself at home!” Lyle answered graciously.

Demo sat down, still silent. He was completely lost in his process, a process that only he understood.

“You’ll have to excuse all of the security at the entrance. I don’t feel safe anymore. To be honest, I’ve been completely beside myself.”

“Why do you think he wanted to kill you . . . the man who broke into your home?”

The judge sat down in his own cushy chair.

“I don’t know . . . I suppose he must have had a vendetta against justice. I’m sure many people have wanted to kill me, but to actually try . . .”

He unconsciously brought his hand up to his heart. His wounds pulsated due to his excited state.

“Do you think he was connected to any of the other murders as of late?” Demo asked.

Lyle looked calmly at Demo and shrugged.

“It’s a big city. There’s evil hiding in every corner. It could have been any number of people.”

Demo turned his gaze towards the newly repaired window. He recalled the blood covered bits of glass that had once been scattered about.

“They cleaned this up fast.”

“I couldn’t stand the sight of it. I had them work double time to scrap every last piece as evidence so that I could put this horrid encounter behind me.”

Demo nodded, but remained staring out the window.

“I lost my family. Well, not my real family, but the only family I really have.”

Lyle looked at him distraught.

“What could you mean by that?”

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s done.”

“Well, sometimes in life people move on; you move on. Things are always changing. Sometimes they even change for the better.”

Demo scratched at a dry patch of skin on his arm.

“I suppose you’re right. I guess I just needed someone to talk to, is all.”

Inexplicably, he got up out of his chair and headed towards the door.

“So soon? Have I said something to offend you?” questioned Lyle, standing up to meet him.

Demo walked calmly to the chessboard. He fumbled with the doomed pieces, putting the king directly in an inescapable

checkmate, a suicidal move.

“You told me once that you were an orphan, correct?”

“Yes, abandoned years ago. All water under the bridge now.”

Demo closed his eyes.

“It must have been hard to lose her after losing your own family. Always difficult when someone you love so dearly is taken away from you.”

Demo didn’t need to turn and look at Lyle; his sorrow was palpable.

“I need to get to a hospital. I’m not feeling too well. . I thank you for your time and hospitality.”

Demo left the room. He knew exactly what he needed to do. He was going to die, finis temporis, the end of times. A phrase that had been conjured up not by him, but by the darkness that now dwelt inside him.

Checkmate suicide.