The Things We Fear

Having died once already, you’d think it would be less scary a second time. This was, in fact, not the case. Instead of serene calm like Marcus might have hoped, knowing what was coming had his heart beating triple time. He kept sniffing the air like he expected there to be a smell to accompany the creature. His mind was convinced that anything that felt this much like decay must carry the scent of death with it, but like in the bathroom, there was nothing other than the surrounding area. All he could smell was the forest and the cologne he’d applied that morning.

Theo was standing at his back. He could feel the tense muscles against his own. The way the other kept darting his eyes around, searching with his eyes for the creature his other senses were picking up on. Marcus wondered what they might see this time. The idea of a shadowy creature that embodied darkness didn’t feel like the dread-inducing monster it once had. Would it look like Theo’s lifeless corpse? But feeling the other against him, that would be a pointless thing to do.

Wasn’t the creature breaking pattern by attacking them together? Cassius had mentioned how the beast hunted its prey whilst alone. The buddy system had obviously been working. Maybe the temptation of a previous victim had been too great to pass on, and it was willing to change tactics in order to get him. Should Marcus feel honoured? He definitely felt horrified, that the creature was willing to go to such extremes just to get him. If it really was just a way to get to Cassius, he was going to be pissed. More pissed. He was already pretty angry about the whole fear monster trying to eat him.

“Theo, when I give the signal, I’m going to need you to run back to the house and get Cassius.”

It was a stupid plan. Get his friend away from the monster and hoped he survived long enough for his magically trained father to arrive, but if it really was after him, Marcus didn’t want to drag Theo down with him. He refused.

“No. no way, man. I’m not freaking abandoning you to this thing,” Theo protested.

Marcus could feel the way the fear and anger were shaking through his friend’s tense muscles. The rigidness of his spine pushed against Marcus’. Why did Theo have to be honourable over sensible?

“We may not have a choice. I survived this thing already, if it does to you what it did to that other vampire, then we’re both screwed. At least this way we stand a chance.”

Marcus was surprised the thing hadn’t materialised already. It had let them know it was there but had yet to make a move. Like it was waiting to see how they would react to its presence. Marcus wondered if it was listening to their conversation, hoping Theo would leave the pair alone as well. It definitely held intelligence, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Alternatively, it might simply enjoy making them stew. Thriving off the anticipation and gradually mounting fear as it crept ever closer but remained just out of sight.

The cracking of a branch had both of the boy’s heads swerving to the sound. He half expected to see a rabbit or a dear, but despite the broken wood, there was nothing to indicate what might have caused the sound. The saliva was thick in his throat as he tried to swallow. Scanning the area for any hints of his would-be murderer. The shadows were closing in. The sky above was no longer the crystal blue of before. The hissing drew bodily around him, like a blanket. A few weeks ago this would have had Marcus running in terror, but now there was something more troubling than the otherworldly presences that had haunted his steps every day (and night) for the past decade.

The shadows reminded him of snakes almost, all sitting up to attention and hissing in one direction. Following their heads, he could see nothing, but it was almost as if he were looking into something cold. It was the strangest sensation, like when you put your hands in the freezer, but it was happening to his eyes.

“What’s it doing?” Theo breathed heavily, still at his back.

“Playing with us. Eventually, it will strike and separate us. It’s a hunter, it knows what it’s doing. Can you get to your phone?”

“I don’t really dare look down right now,” Theo hissed.

“I know where it is, roughly, and I’m looking at it, if you won’t leave then you need to ring Cassius. It’ll probably attack whilst you’re distracted, so just - be quick.”

Deciding to attack first was better than being picked off like lambs, he threw a ball of light at the beast. It was one of the first spells Cassius had taught him. One most children learned, particularly if they were afraid of the dark. It didn’t contain any fire or much heat, but Marcus hoped the memory of his last attack would be enough to knock the thing off guard for a moment.

“Mar–” the sound cut off.

He could feel it this time. Marcus remembered thinking about it in the bathroom, how the world felt stifled. Out of time. Cut off somehow. Out in the open, where there were trees instead of walls, to create barriers, it was more obvious. The bubble now cut Marcus off from the rest of the world. Cassius had theorised it had something to do with time dilation, and he found himself praying the elder was wrong. Hopefully, Theo would have enough wits about him to have already contacted the warlock, but if it had barely been a fraction of a second, it could mean minutes or hours in here before help arrived.

Throwing an electric impulse, he tested the barriers around them. The creature had yet to take a shape, but he could feel it all around him, as though it were the barrier and any physical form would merely be an extension of this dimension he was caught within. There were none of the sounds of the forest. No chirping, rustling or beating wings. The dead silence was ominous enough in itself.

The shadows were still with him. Still hissing nonsensically as though the creature might be in any way impacted by their anger. Marcus was starting to believe he might be the only one aware of their presence. That whatever had happened during that ritual had given him an insight into a world only he was able to connect to. That or he had simply lost it, which at this point, he was not discounting as a possibility.

“Ma–”

The sound came from all around him.

“Mar–”

“Are you… are you trying to say my name?”

“Cus–”

That answered that question. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to a creature that felt like death, which had actively tried to kill him once and succeeded, apparently attempting to communicate with him.

“Er, yeah, Marcus, that’s me?” What the hell else was he supposed to say?

“One.”

“Erm. Yeah, just one of me? Well, there isn’t just one Marcus in the world, it’s not an uncommon name, not as popular as say just Mark, but common enough. Plenty of other Marcus’ on the planet.”

Why did he have to babble when nervous?

A cold hand touched his back. He spun in place but was met with nothing. The lingering cold of the icy touch still felt on his skin. He kept looking around. Trying not to move too fast and miss anything, but also trying to be aware of his surroundings. It was times like this he wished he could ask the shadows to see for him, but that felt like it would be even more dangerous than the fear-eating creature he was currently trapped with. A slippery slope to something much worse.

“Do you? Do you want to –to talk?”

He could have slapped his head at his own awkwardness. Why was he asking the monster if it wanted to chat? The pressure within the bubble grew heavier. Marcus decided to take that as a no.

The bubble suddenly rumbled. The world outside its opaque walls were obscured. Shades of dark grey and green stopped him from seeing clearly, but it felt like something was hitting the dome. Marcus smiled a little, that was definitely something Theo would do. He could almost picture the body launching himself at the bubble over and over attempting to pop it. When another shudder reverberated through, it filled his chest with hope.

A growling came from beside him. A hand around his throat as he was thrown to the floor. The ricochet of the fall made his body spasm. The sudden pain was worsened by the lack of oxygen. Marcus tried to fight against the thing, tried to push it away. But for all it was holding him in place with solid force, his hands continued to pass through the thing as though it were nothing more than air. Or maybe smog. Dirty, grey air.

This close Marcus could feel its anger. Anger at being attacked. Anger at being denied. It wanted his fear, but for all Marcus was scared, he knew it was only a matter of time before that barrier came down. Even if the thing choked him to death, it wouldn’t be getting what it wanted. Had he oxygen in his lungs Marcus would have laughed. What was a piddly fear of darkness against knowing he would win? It might be a bittersweet victory, but he’d be screwing this thing over as well, and it made it all worth it.

“Ma–us”

It wasn’t the beast this time. It was coming from outside. The claw around his neck tightened, realising it didn’t have much time. Another shudder shook the world around them. The little pocket dimension struggled under the force of what was attacking outside. He wanted to cheer Theo on, to let him know he was still in here and waiting for him to blast through, but no sound could escape past the hand.

“Marcus!”

The sound was clearer this time. The concert of voices just beyond the visibly shaking wall. His body was starting to burn, weaken with the lack of air, each limb screaming for precious oxygen to help them move. His attempts to shift the metaphysical hand became weak. He was becoming weak. He’d seen enough tv shows to know how it went. The body, starved of oxygen, slowly shut down. His mind grew sluggish as his lungs screamed and screamed and screamed.

In a desperate attempt, he looked to the side. The swaying snake-like beings almost begged him to let them help. They said no words. Made no sounds. But Marcus understood anyway. He wasn’t ready to let them in, but in exchange for listening to them in future, he would ask them to remove the threat. If nothing else, it might confirm if they were real or if his brain had been damaged.

He could barely hear the great gasp, followed by lots of little pants, turning on his side as his body curled in on itself and tried to circulate the air as quickly through his body as possible. The hisses beside him were louder than they had ever been. He could only watch helplessly as one of the shadows wrapped itself around his wrist, sitting there like a bracelet.

“Marcus. Marcus.”

He was suddenly being propped up, a body behind him supporting his weight. His eyes were still dancing with black as he kept breathing as deeply as possible. He would never neglect air ever again. He would become a champion of air. He’d sign up to all those clean air policies and buy some wind turbines, and whatever else people who valued the air did.

Smelling burning, he rose his head. Cassius was there, wielding a large controlled flame with such pinpoint accuracy he was genuinely impressed. It didn’t touch a single leaf or tree as it chased the monster away.

“You stupid, stupid boy. What did I tell you? What did I say about that thing coming back for you? And you wander off, into the forest, with a freshly turned vampire. If I knew you were suicidal I’d never..” the man trailed off, as though not sure how to complete his sentence.

It was a new look for Cassius, unsure. Uncertain of himself and what to do. He made several aborted attempts to touch Marcus, but unsure of his welcome, withdrew at the last second.

“You foolish, idiotic, brain-damaged, stupid boy,” he said before finally giving in and pressing Marcus against him in a hug.

If Marcus didn’t know better, he’d think the man genuinely cared. But that was impossible.

Wasn’t it?