Writing this sort of creeped me out, I hope the chills translate to others, as well:
Like a wisp of smoke that turned solid, the bluish presence
within the circle slowly took form. Two eyes seemed to exude sadness and
knowledge as they stared towards Russell. The figure was tall and thin, his
narrow jaw and long nose blossoming into a prominent forehead. Wild waves of
hair gathered around the sides of a receding hairline. The figure in the center
radiated its blue light so that each of the members holding hands were bathed
in the light.
“What secrets are you hoping to discover?” asked the blue
apparition, peering down at them. He appeared unnaturally tall, as if he
levitated in order to show his rank.
“We are looking for our missing friends,” said Russell.
“Have you seen them?”
“You want answers, but answers are worth nothing until they
are earned. If you wish to see what we see, then you must walk the path that we
have walked.”
“We only wish to find our friends. Will you not help us?”
“Our secrets are our own. If you want answers, you must join
us. Trust for trust.”
“We don’t want to join you,” said Doug, “we just want what’s
ours. You have no right to keep our friends from us.”
“They came here of their own volition. Like you, they came
seeking answers, which we provided them. But answers come with a price, which
they have paid. Will you?”
Mindy was tempted to ask what price they would have to pay,
what price Dave and Johnny had paid, but Doug spoke again.
“We have not come to bargain with you,” said Doug. His voice
projected authority, but Mindy had no idea where it came from, what he could
back it up with.
The figure inside the circle did not seem to recognize any
authority other than his own. Mindy again became aware of the hands she clung
to, felt the security they provided. Maintain the circle and contain the
spirit. Although everyone in the circle reflected the blue glow from the
presence in the middle. The blue glow seemed to lie now even beyond their
circle. She felt the beads that Russell’s grasp pushed into the flesh of her
hands, realized they belonged to the man in front of them, that he must be
Gregor Soeldner. She feared that he might recognize them as his own, demand
them back.
“I do not bargain, I speak truth. The Association has
endured because we have not betrayed our secrets. If we let you in, we will not
let you out.”
“We have summoned you to tell us what we need to know,”
Mindy was pretty sure Doug was bluffing that he had nothing to back up his
bluster. “You are contained within the circle we have created. You have no
power, you cannot set conditions.”
“Yes, I am contained within your circle,” said Gregor. “But
your circle is a small thing. And I am the only one within it.”
Mindy had been staring at Gregor, at the bluish glow of his
presence. Now she shifted her gaze to beyond the circle the four members of The
Beyond Show formed with their hands. Looking to her right, then left, she
noticed beyond the circle the same glow existed outside of the four members.
There were many figures outside of the circle, surrounding them, each of them
holding hands in the same manner that Mindy and the others were. Each of them
shared a gaze of intent that lacked any human element.
She looked at Doug and found him lacking any response. In
that moment she knew she’d better gather her courage, that she was the one who
had the most to lose. Whatever strength and experience the others had, she was
among them and therefore had a part to play. She gazed at Gregor, who as yet
had not looked at her, and said, “Perhaps they have us, but we have you. You
have been summoned by us, and you will answer to us. You no longer speak from
the authority that you did as a man of God, you are but a remnant of a man, a
memory that has lingered. You exist to share your message. Speak!”
He looked at her as one who had been discovered, and said,
“The answers and the people you seek are below us. If you dare to follow, it is
there that you will find your answers.”
The figure of Gregor flickered, as if to say that it was not
the thing they should be looking at. The group, still holding hands, turned
their gaze outside of the circle, looked at the figures beyond. There were
enough to form a full circle around them, even at a distance. But the circle
soon dissipated as the figures began to walk single file towards a building to
their west. Mindy looked to Doug and the others. Without the need for
discussion, the decision was made. It was Russell who spoke for the group, “You
are released, Gregor Soeldner.” The light that reflected from each of their
faces vanished into blackness as the figure in front of them disappeared.
“Let’s follow them,” said Mindy, her words braver than the
feeling in her heart. They trailed after the figures who moved slowly, like a
chain gang returning from work. They disappeared through a door that Russell
was forced to open for the others. Izzy would have been more than happy to be
the last one through the door, but Doug stood behind, as if to guard against a
reappearance from Gregor.
They walked upon tiled floors littered with glass, their way
well-lit by the glow of the apparitions. There were perhaps fifty of them, most
but not all of them dressed similar to Gregor. Some appeared to have been from
newer eras, as if even in death The Association was adding to its ranks. There
was one who seemed to be a teenager, perhaps one who had come to this place not
many years back to drink a few beers and give a scare to his girlfriend. The
whole of them shuffled along like zombies, as if their will had abandoned them,
or as if they had surrendered themselves to the judgment of The Association, of
Gregor Soeldner.
They led them down a flight of stairs, led them through
hallways that shone blue in their presence. Great pipes hugged cement walls,
vanishing into the darkness where the blue glow did not extend. Mindy walked
behind Russell, content to have someone at her back in the darkness.
As Mindy walked she became aware of the terrible silence
around her. The glowing apparitions were noiseless as they plodded along cement
floors like zombies called by their master. Before she knew it, the smooth
cement gave way to a hasher stone flooring, causing her to become more aware of
her footsteps that padded softly like ripples on a still pond. The darkness
gave opportunity for her mind to imagine hidden dangers, but she found herself preferring
it to the blue glow.
There was a tunnel that led off to their right, cloaked in
darkness. But at the edge of light emitted by the group, Mindy couldn’t help
thinking that for an instant she caught a glimpse of a skeleton.
They were well lost by this point, having taken a large
amounts of twists and turns, too many choices of which tunnel to take. As they
passed by on offshoot, Mindy heard the sound of movement which she knew was not
caused by any of them.
“Did you hear that?” Mindy asked, turning back towards Izzy
and Doug.
“Yes,” said Doug. “Try not to think about it. Hopefully, The
Association will keep us safe for their own purposes, whatever they may be.”
“It might be Dave!” said Mindy. Russell said he was
somewhere in the dark, alone. We’ve got to find out if it’s him.”
“If we get lost in here, we’ll never find our way out. We
have to stick with them.”
“I’ll go with her,” said Izzy. “I’ve got a flashlight. We’ll
investigate and see what we can find.”
“You’ll get lost,” said Doug.
“We’ll only get lost if they
allow us to get lost. I don’t think that will happen. You and Russell go ahead,
we’ll catch up.”
Izzy appeared truly brave at that moment, making Mindy
wonder if the times he appeared less so to be merely a guise. How could
somebody so unknowable become so trustworthy, she thought.
Izzy turned on his flashlight and they headed down the dark
tunnel, Russell and Doug still following the blue procession. Mindy found
herself relieved when they had distanced themselves enough that she could no
longer detect the blue that had so consumed her sight.
The tunnel they entered was rough, crudely dug, and Izzy
gazed about with the aid of his flashlight to determine if it was even safe to
enter. It looked to be dug into earth or clay rather than rock. They did not
have to travel far before reaching the end. The noise was louder now, like the
scratching of a rat. Izzy seemed reluctant to lower the beam of his flashlight,
preferring ignorance to knowledge. When at last he found the courage to lower
it, Mindy saw a figure hunched in the darkness, clawing at the wall in front of
him as if he were looking to expand the tunnel he was lost in. It wasn’t Dave,
thought Mindy, it couldn’t be him. He had been wearing the blue jacket she had
bought for him when he left. This man wore a flannel shirt. And boots, Dave
didn’t own boots. This couldn’t be Dave.
Mindy would have been content to let it go at that, allow
whoever it was to go about his business. But Izzy realized him for what he was,
a fellow human being in need of aid. He called to him, and when that did not
work, grabbed him by the shoulder. The man twisted around with speed caused by
fear. He stared into the light that Izzy shown at him, and Mindy couldn’t help
thinking he flashed them a huge smile. But the edges of that smile were ragged,
and in a flash of realization, Mindy realized that his lips were for the better
part missing. Even as she looked at him in terror, the man in front of them was
busily moving his jaw, attempting to bite at whatever flesh remained in chewing
distance. His eyes were wide open despite the pain unexpected light must have
caused him. He was alert in the way only great fear can achieve. Unable to look
at the massacred mouth, she focused on his eyes, which radiated terror. She
could see the pupils shrinking in reaction to the light, at the jaw nervously
looking for something to chew.
Mindy screamed. She felt her body shrink towards Izzy,
trying instinctually to find shelter in another’s strength. Together, they
retreated slowly from the tunnel, Izzy’s flashlight still shining in the face
of the man whose fear had caused him to chew his own lips off. Mindy could
still the jaw working as the vision faded from her sight.
They had not been separated for long. When they returned to
the tunnel they had come from, the glow had disappeared, but they knew which
direction they were going. They ran quickly, as much to distance themselves
from what they witnessed as to find the others.
