Chasers, Lisa Logue [elon musk reading list .txt] 📗

was black with no sign of Joey at all. He snapped a few flares and chucked them into the hole. The hissing and shrieking began immediately as the most terrifyingly large shade he’d ever laid eyes on moved beneath the opening like a massive wave.

That’s exactly what it was; an ocean of darkness. “Joey!” Ben yelled again, praying for some type of response. It was hard to hear anything above the hissing and popping of the shades and demons around him, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Reaching into his pack, he found the grappling gun and searched for a steady place to anchor it. The warehouse was barely standing on its own, especially after the grenades and gunfire, but the cross-beams would have to do.

“I’m coming, Joey. Just hang on,” Ben said. He shot the inky mass full of lighted bullets before taking the plunge into the hole. He probably should have been afraid, but he wasn’t. All he could think of what saving Joey; how he couldn’t save Ethan. That was his job. Joey was somewhere in the basement and, with any luck, he was still alive.

The hissing noises filled the room and Joey pulled himself up slowly from the damp floor. He had no idea where he’d falled, but the room was much too dark. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as the cloud of evil scaled the walls around him. He’d never seen a shade so big. Light flashed above him like a heat storm and he knew it was Ben. The crazy son of a bitch was actually trying to rescue him. A low growl from the shade was all the warning Joey needed to realize what was about to happen; it was about to take the warehouse down with them inside.

“Joey! Where are you? Joey!” Ben dangled from the rope, suspended above the floor, and scanned the room. The knot in his gut grew at the sight of the basement. The shade took up the entire room, even spilling over as it hugged the ceiling. Most shades were the size of humans; this one could fill almost the entire building. “Joey!” Ben called again, hoping he wasn’t too late.

“Ben, over here! Hurry up, this sucker’s about to take this place down,” Ben turned to his left and saw Joey’s gloved hand sticking up above the misty darkness. “Alright, hang on,” Ben swung himself over and dropped down a few inches to meet Joey’s outstretched hand.

Ben’s fingers formed a death grip around Joey’s wrist and he hit the automatic reel, pulling them both out of the hole with lightening fast quickness. Joey was scratched up and bruised, but was already healing. They looked at each other for a brief moment, silently thanking God that they were still alive. Ben unlatched the grappling hook and set about unpacking the grenades.

“Have you ever seen anything that big?” Joey asked over his shoulder, shooting anything that was left floating around them.

Ben shook his head, “No. I don’t think that’s a regular shade. It’s not acting like one. It should have disintegrated when I used the lighted bullets and it’s still down there like I never touched the damned thing. Fucking warehouses.”

Ben dropped the charges into the hole and he and Joey took off for the exit. Their increased speed was always a plus, especially when blowing things up. The only thing lighting the way through the increasingly darkening warehouse was the faint glow of red from their skin as they jumped through the doors and rolled down the hill to their truck.

They didn’t stop. The grenades exploded and the green flames were so bright it hurt their eyes in the rearview mirrors while they sped away. Ben had deep gashes on his cheek where the brush cut into him during the downhill roll. Joey popped his left shoulder back into place and pulled a nail out of the back of his hand. Normally, they would celebrate their victory, but they were still unsure of what they actually witnessed.

Ben spoke first, “Do we tell them? What if others are walking into this and have no idea. How many are going to die? Or have already?” What he didn’t say out loud was that Ethan could have suffered at the hands of whatever type of shade they just saw. Of course, Joey was already thinking it.

“I honestly don’t know. Do we have any proof? You know we can’t just waltz in there without something to show for it or they’ll think we’re nuts. I’m surprised they’ve let us go so soon after Ethan. Are we one hundred percent sure we saw what we think we saw?” Joey spit out the old dip and stuffed his cheek with another.

“I know what I saw and I know what it looked like. The best we can hope is that it was picked up on our energy drives. Next time we’ll need to bring some thermals just in case. Something feels off about this, doesn’t it? Why would that thing have just been hanging out in an empty basement?” They shrugged, both fighting the same gut feeling that something big was stirring right under their noses. The truth was, they had no idea what it was, just that it was even more abnormal than normal and it scared the hell out of them.

The truck raced down the highway, putting as much distance between them and the warehouse as possible. The green flames eventually turned to the normal orangish-yellow color and the structure collapsed in on itself. It took a long time for firemen and rescue teams to get there, not leaving much for them to do except churn the ashes in an attempt to figure out how the fire started. Lucky for the boys, Ben’s grenades left no traces so there wasn’t anything linking them to the fire.

Eventually, the authorities left and the fire turned to low smoldering embers. The embers eventually began to bubble. Thick tar-like blobs formed and grew, clinging to each other like hot glue. The gooey mass poured from the wreckage and down the hill, following the trail the boys had made during their escape. As it reached the road, the massive goo began to mold itself into something else.

A face appeared in the center. It was that of a woman. Her eyes were almost black and her lips red as blood. She emerged from the mass, standing naked near the shoulder of the highway. The skin she wore was lightly tanned and everything about her was petite. Even her face resembled a teenager’s, sweet and innocent. If not for her imposing glare and jet black hair, one might even think she was a normal human girl.

A car skidded to a stop as its headlights spotted the naked woman. The man behind the wheel jumped out, blanket in tow, and urged the strange girl out of the cold and into the warmth of his SUV. She smiled and nodded, making herself comfortable on the seat beside the human man. She could smell his reluctance and fear, but she wouldn’t kill him yet. She needed information first and he was going to be easy to manipulate.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” He asked in a hushed voice. She guessed he was afraid of scaring her. If only he knew what he had ushered into his car.

“Name?” She answered quizzically. She didn’t have a human name that she knew of. She hadn’t walked on the surface for thousands of years. Her true name wasn’t one even pronounceable in the human tongue.

The man gave her a strange look, “Sure. My name is Hank. I don’t want you to be afraid of me, I won’t hurt you.”

She smiled again, “Not afraid.” Clearly, her human tongue was not yet available to her. Still, she had a start. The human Hank was going to be very helpful. “Mara. My name is Mara.”

Hank smiled, “Nice to meet you Mara. Is there somewhere I can take you? Do you have family nearby? What on Earth were you doing out here by yourself?” He asked many questions, but Mara reined in her impatience.

“No family. I cannot remember why, just that I am. Can you help?” Mara struggled with the words. Hank smiled again and patted her shoulder, “Sure, Mara. We’ll figure it out. You can stay at my house for now until we figure out what happened. Will that be alright? I have a guest room over my garage. You will have privacy there.”

Mara nodded and a sinister smile spread across her face. Yes, the human Hank would be very useful. Stupid humans. It was no wonder they had to be protected by the angel bile who called themselves chasers. Soon, she thought, soon.

Imprint

Text: Lisa Logue
Images: jonas maaloe
Publication Date: 07-12-2013

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