| Fiction |
Tomorrow's Light
Written by Drew Clements
Conceptualized by Drew Clements and Bryan Hester
(Part Seven - VI)
The three approached the
large, decrepit old building. Tomorrow smiled; high school
kids regularly visited this place; entering was something of
a rite of passage. If that were true, Tomorrow was well on
her way to being the most experienced and wise of those
who’ve attempted. She’d been in no less than fifteen times;
she was so familiar with the place that it wasn’t unusual
for friends to call her and ask for a guided tour. Okay, so
a guided tour was a bit difficult given that she didn’t
actually know what half the rooms were used for, but she did
know how to navigate the place well.
“What is this place?” Augustus asked.
“It’s an old insane asylum.” Tomorrow answered as the three
stopped directly in front of the building’s front door.
“And how did you come to learn of it?” Khron wondered.
“It’s the stuff of local legend. High school kids come here
because it’s supposed to be haunted. Trust me, though, in
all the times I’ve been here, I’ve never experienced
anything weird.”
“Interesting. And you come here just to scare yourselves?”
Khron asked.
“Come now, Khron, surely when you were a child you did
something similar?” Augustus asked.
“I did not. We had no such “haunted” place to visit and if
we did know of one, tribe rules strictly forbid us entering
specific areas. We tried our best to keep ourselves hidden
from others and not draw attention from potential enemies.”
Khron explained.
Tomorrow sighed, “You didn’t have much fun as a kid, did
you?”
“Fun was had, yes. We, however, had different ideas of what
fun was.” Khron shook his head.
“Do many people visit this place?” Augustus asked.
“Oh yeah, all the time. Mostly high school kids.” Tomorrow
smiled and began to walk toward the doors, which were half
on their hinges and thrown wide open.
“Perhaps, then, this is not the place we need to be.”
Augustus questioned.
“You have a better idea?” Tomorrow held up her hands.
“I do not sense anyone else. We are alone.” Khron looked
around.
“Yeah, besides, this place is huge! If someone happens by,
then we can just move to a different room.” Tomorrow
suggested. There was an anxious, playfulness in her voice.
Considering her current situation, that was a good thing.
Augustus pondered the logistics and then, seeing no other
option available, nodded, “Okay, let’s go.”
“Great!” Tomorrow smiled and lead the way, “We’re on
familiar turf here for me anyway. We’re safe.”
Augustus turned toward Khron, “Double-check the perimeter of
the building. Local legends are hardly wrong.”
Khron nodded and disappeared into the darkness.
Tomorrow had already made her way inside, having to step
over the numerous objects that lay throughout the foyer.
Augustus followed, taking in the surroundings. Immediately
to the right of the entrance sat what looked like an
admissions area? Old paint was chipping and hanging from the
walls behind the high desk. This could be said of all the
walls as Augustus began to look around more, relying on his
keen night vision to make his way through. Directly in front
of them sat a hallway leading to a larger room; forward and
just a bit to their right, in the same room, sat a set of
stairs leading up; directly to their right was a door
leading into another hallway and to the left, the same.
“Usually I have a flashlight, but I can see without it!”
Tomorrow remarked.
“Indeed. You’ll find that you have a lot of new abilities at
your disposal.”
“That’s cool.” Tomorrow shook her head, feeling like the
word “cool” was a horrible understatement that sounded very
childish.
“Hey guys!” A voice shouted from behind.
Both Tomorrow and Augustus whirled about to see the squat
dragon standing at the entrance, “S’matter, I scare ya?”
“How did I not hear him coming?” Tomorrow asked.
“He’s very stealthy; it’s one of the reasons we keep him
around.” Augustus shook his head as if to try and find more
reasons why they kept him around, but failing miserably.
The small creature crunched across paint chips and an old,
rotten mattress as he made his way closer to them.
“You have an update on our pursuers?” Augustus asked.
“Yeah, they made their way out of the neighborhood as soon
as the cops showed. They, unlike us,” Ditko shook his head,
annoyed, “have a car and a truck to get around in.”
“Do you suspect the Zar have infiltrated the police force?”
Augustus ignored the idea of vehicles.
“Of course they have, but you knew that without asking. I
watched two of the bastards enter new bodies right there.”
Ditko sneered, “Nasty little things, huh?”
“That’s a way to put it, yes.”
“Let’s move deeper inside and away from the door.” Tomorrow
suggested, “You know, just in case someone happens to
stumble by.”
“Lead on.” Augustus motioned forward, “But I suggest high
ground.”
“Okay.” Tomorrow walked forward and placed her hand on the
rail on the stairs, “Going up.”
Khron found the area remarkably clear. Not only was there no
presence of would-be high school adventurers, there were no
animals; he was hard pressed to find even an insect. With
the exception of high grass and twisted trees, there was no
visible life at all on these grounds. He could not sense any
sort of chemical presence that might keep animals from
living on the land, but there was something else; he
couldn’t place it, but something wasn’t quite right.
Hunkering down in the shadow of the large building, he
listened. He could faintly hear the whispering voices of
Tomorrow and Augustus; he could hear a low hum coming from a
separate, smaller building behind the main, large one. Power
still came to that building, perhaps. A louder voice popped
into his ears: Ditko had made his presence known.
That dragon, Khron smiled, was a very unique beast. He’d
known the creature for a while now and had become accustomed
to his very human-like ways. The little monster’s
personality was one that could easily be attributed to a
human teenager that had been exposed to too much television
and video games, which wasn’t far off from the mark
considering Ditko’s past time of… watching TV and playing
video games.
A snap behind him! Something was approaching! It had gotten
very close to him without triggering any of his senses until
now! How? It did not matter. As Khron turned, he found
himself face to…
“Something’s not right.” Augustus stopped.
He and the other two were half-way up the second flight of
stairs. Darkness lingered all about; it was thick and oily.
His vision couldn’t quite cut through it. He could, however,
see Tomorrow directly in front of him and, when he looked
back, Ditko below him on the paint chip and debris-littered
stairs. Past Tomorrow, though… nothing.
“Yeah, something’s not right. I can’t see now.” Tomorrow
confirmed that he wasn’t the only one experiencing problems.
“I can see down the stairs, but I can’t see in front of you
guys.” Ditko reported.
Augustus whispered, “Something lurks in this building. It
knows we’re here.”