Chapter 4: In the Face of Evil.
“Zombies!” Hadge frantically yelled. He could feel an icy sensation lingering upon his cheek, as something had touched him. While sorrowful moans shuddered terribly close to his ear, rousing a cool breathy draft across his neck, and a chill down his spine. His minds eye instantly visualizing the rotting corpse of the old man, hovering dangerously above him. Its long cold skeletal fingers wickedly aimed at him, and its rotting mouth breathing down his neck. He was certain of the disturbing implications, as the unsettling words rang through his head, “Dinner is served.” He sat bolt upright in the unusually silent field of flowers, expecting to see a deadly man-eater drooling over him, with the unnerving notion nauseously boiling up all over again, “Dinner is served.”
At that time the sluggish scenes of the fairies flashed like still photography. They had led those lifeless fiends away, leaving behind no sounds, no fairies, as he confusedly wondered, “Did any of it really happen?”
The foreign feel of dampness trickled down his cheek, every nerve and discord grimacing to the touch. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” He bellowed, quick to believe it to be slobbers, reacting to the chilling moisture like everyone would. Hadge swiftly wiped the substance from his face, as the thick pasty feel eerily spread athwart his skin, and his fingers were smeared red, the gruesome shade of blood. Then another drop struck his face, and another, and another. Even as his disconcerted vision staunchly followed the route the bleeding drops had plummeted, it was tragically raining blood once again, a true omen of death.
Dark clouds ominously churned overhead. Heathen spires had rose from the murky depths of the planet, volatilely heating and contaminating the air, as it ushered its foul pollution from the very bowels of hell, from the reavers factories. The evil factories had emerged out of hibernation once more, where death may not come only once, or even twice, but an unending demise, where sanity and pain may truly wish there were an end. The reavers hunted once more, sending their dark army’s to unearth new victims to torture, and no one would be safe.
The declaration of safe unbearably struck home, he couldn’t help but to worry about everyone in the caverns. Hadge wrestled with the recollection of seeing a reaver inside the caverns before he left, gravely asking, “What if it wasn’t the soama, or a dream?” Which evoked more memories, “There were more reavers outside the Cemetery.” Feeling his body nervously quake, “Oh my Yahveh.” He cried, “They’re all in danger!”
All at once bloodcurdling shrieks pierced the rigid silence, like the grisly sounds of prey captured within the razor-sharp claws of its predator. At once he thought of Uwee and the others, begging to ask that terrible question, “Could the screams be one of them?” There was no time in the trivial pursuit of answers, as he frantically attempted to trace the sounds. Scanning the darkness from his hiding place, he was despairingly drawn towards Grendlocke Cemetery, certain the reavers had to be there. By this time he had established the identity of the distinct tonal shrieks it was Uwee. With much dismay trouble seemed to find the grubb no matter where he may be, however the blame this time had grown heavy on Hadges shoulders, miserably requesting, “What have I done?”
Hadge leapt to his feet, recklessly dashing towards the distraught sounds. Oddly a startling noise swished the leaves mere feet away, shifting beneath the weight of something heavy in his wake, something moving hard and fast in his direction. He turned just in time to see a massive dark shape leap up from the shadowy foliage, his mind at once associating the shape with a reaver, and his heart skipped a beat. Then a closer inspection revealed the shape was strewn with haphazard flesh-like growths, as it quickly out ran him, and the massive figure had become identifiable. It was the dog Reybe.
The sight of Reybe was a sure sign that everything that has happened had to have been real, as real as that dog running at his side. Reybe barked a friendly acknowledgement, then left him behind, and ran into the shadowy Cemetery, vanishing from sight. The frantic shrieks grew much more invasive, infiltrated by a low guttural growl, then two, and three, until it was hard to tell how many was out there. Hadge helplessly shouted, “Uweeeeee!”
Abruptly an obscured object flung from the murky depths of the Cemetery, and shockingly landed on the ground next to his feet. “Whoa!” He was quite surprised, nearly jumping out of his own skin, as he took a step back. He caught a glimpse of the dark falling object, just before it fell into a mass of scabby scaled skin. The light had eerily played across the creatures two marble sized gray elliptical eyes, the creature had to be a creeper. Creepers were very rarely seen by humans, nor did they as a rule attack the living, nonetheless survival and hunger can make monsters out of anything. Hadges mind wrangled to fearfully consider, “Someone must be dead.”
Immediately a crumpled body came into view, lying between two crumbling headstones, he had been right, someone was dead. At once he knew it was Uwee, his fair-hair matted with blood, exactly like the bodies in his nightmare, they too had been left for dead. Hadge emotionally felt he was breaking down, as the blame felt like a large brick house on his chest, just enough anguished breath to cry out, “Uweeeeee!!!”
His whole world moved in slow motion, each running step seemed to create more distance between them. Skulking shapes of creepers eerily crept from the cover of darkness, hunched on all fours, all moving deformed limbs in the direction of the helpless body. Uwee would be their next meal. Rage became all consuming, sensing the weight of the book in his hands, as he instinctively swung the book at the nearest creeper, and it smacked hard against a headstone. The creeper crumpled into a blood-splattered mess upon the grave, shrieking out in pain. Then one by one he battered the rest of the creepers aside, seeing that they too cried out in terrible agony, all bizarrely dieing where they landed. He had been momentarily bewildered, watching the last one fall, they had no real injuries, and still they died. “Strange.” He’d thought, mysteriously striking a chord back to the tomb of the dead animals, wondering, “How did they all die?”
“Hadge?” A wonderfully familiar voice whispered, “Is this a nightmare?” Hadge hurried to his side, happily leaning over the grubb to respond, “I think it is.”
“Good.” Uwee exhaustively blinked his eyes closed, “I thought the reavers were real.” Hadge promptly inquired, ”Reavers?” Uwee peeped up at him through long lashes, speaking barely above a whisper, “Yea.” He replied, “I dreamed there were dozens. They took everyone away except me.” Horrifically this was Hadges worst nightmare.
Hadge was thankful Uwee was now out of harm's way, but had to wonder, “Why?” Then the flittering memory of the unsightly face of a reaver inside the caverns crossed his mind, they had both been in the room at the first sighting, so he had to presume, “They were both passed over.” And if he had to wager a reason, it would be, “They’d been rejected because of the spider poison, or maybe the soama?” It was ludicrous to think, “No.” He argued, “It couldn’t be so simple.” He could hardly see the reasoning in most things these days.
Hadge knew Uwee was safe, but now had to see if the others were all right inside the caverns. He turned to look at the big black dog standing over his friend, patting its grimy coat, careful not to touch any growths. Then spoke as if the dog might understand, “Reybe, watch Uwee for me.”
Hadge rushed inside the blanket of blackness filling the inside of the dilapidated mausoleum, hearing the uneasy sounds of rock crumbling from the concrete vault, yet even in all this darkness he knew the way. He ran straight for two tombs, ornately fashioned in unusual keyholes, which rested next to the hindquarters of the space. Climbing up and over the edge of the farthest, which was stained from years of use. In the bottom of the tomb was a virtually invisible gap in the floor. He crawled through that crack, to a semblance of narrow stairs, which now was covered in loose rocks and debris, as slid roughly all the way down to a heavy wooden door.
This is the door to his chambers, which had oddly been left ajar. Doltish to think he might’ve forgo
tten to secure it closed, because he never forgot. The blackened door eerily creaked before him, like a breath of evil, moving slowly in and out, as he warily stepped inside. The room for the most part was intact, down to its ungodly walls and floor, which were imbedded with bones from the cemetery. An uncanny feeling of being watched literally burned hard into his flesh, seeing that the uncanny feeling had become most common these days, spiders, reavers, cats, and dogs. All had made life out to be for the most part uncomfortable, yet he was no longer afraid, just angry.
Hadge languished in the center of the room searching for any signs of life; nonetheless he was greeted by an unbreakable stillness, realizing he must keep moving. He moved to the dark uninviting exit, which separated his chambers from the caverns, the hanging roots remained utterly motionless, and he knew what he’d seen was real. The faded image of the frozen faced reaver stared from just beyond the linking walkway, its filthy robes rippling as it stirred, spreading ash when it moved.
He was certain the ordeal was quite reminiscent of the old woman reaver in Harbinger, wondering, “Could it have been somebody I’ve known?” He blinked the terrible vision staining his mind away, and it had once more vanished. Although the memory had departed with a farewell souvenir of ashes, scattered everywhere he looked, the same ashes he’d felt on his feet after seeing the reaver. He bent down to inspect the very ashes, which suspiciously looked like black snow.
Hadge considered the fact that the reavers may still be in the caverns somewhere, whether it were true or not he had to press onward. He quietly dared to step through the adjoining exit, which led into the networking caverns. The strange texture of ashes clung to his feet; the creepy vestiges were spread far and wide. He descended the spiral tunnel deeper into the ground, bypassing his friend Feo’s quarters, after that passing little Uma’s behind, at last Nibbs, and all the others who lived in the caves. Each chamber was alit with the strange glo rocks from the deep spring, revealing that the rooms were all left in shambles, however void of any real life. It was uncommonly quiet, a bit too quiet for his liking. He could hear only the insane trickle of the spring far below, sure someone would’ve ran up to him by now, if they were still alive. His mind despondently concluding from the overall evidence, “The reavers must have taken them?”
The intensifying sounds of the ocean permeated the caverns, growing louder as he descended the coiling path. He felt genuinely disturbed by the shadows twisting among the rocks, distorting over the natural niches within the stone, exhaling a life of its own. He growled beneath his breath, “Stoooop it…” Knowing that the caverns had long since been etched by erosion, and nothing was there. The passageway began to bud open to the lower cavern, just as the slightest racket of shifting rocks under someone’s feet echoed all through the caverns, moreover he knew he was not alone, “But who or what could it be?” First and foremost in his mind, “It’s a reaver!”
Then he felt as if he were being watched, the watcher studying his nervous descent. Hadges brisk walk developed into an all out run, until he reached the bottom, with nowhere else to go. The natural spring came into sight, like a tiny waterfall gathering in a clear blue pool completely lined by glo rocks, and he warily stopped at the pools edge. He scanned every shadowy recess; hearing what he believed to be breathing amid the sounds of the ocean, even as he lividly began to shout, “Show yourself…”
Suddenly there was a swish; something was cutting the air, just as he twisted to see a dark figure beside him, with its arms already in motion. The garbled tone of this creature harshly told him what he understood was the word, “Die!” There was an instance of darkness clouding every corner of his brain, but even in the confusion he had to protect the book, “The book.” Soon after an angry voice rang out, words as unclear as standing in a windstorm, however he could only think of the book clutched tightly in his hands, murmuring mindlessly, “The book.” All there came to be was blackness; if time passed he hadn’t a clue.
The indistinguishable voice grew louder through the haze, indubitably loud enough to wake the dead, “You brought the reavers here!” The words raging, “You knew the city was off limits!” Hadge diffidently reacted, “Huh?” still enveloped by the shaky darkness. The fuming tone continued to roar, “The reavers took everyone!” He merely moaned in response, “Noooo!” Rubbing his forehead, feeling a warm thick gooey wetness collected there, in tandem he opened his eyes, focusing on the blood in his hand, “Oh my Yahveh!” He cried, “What’s this?” The voice curtly apologized, “Sorry.” Simply stating, “I thought you were one of them.” Hadge appeared thoroughly baffled by this statement. Then a rough fat finger scoured the delicate bridge between his eyes, as those same black smudged fingers were brusquely held exceedingly close to his face, the man exclaimed, “You see!” He wanted nothing more than to argue, “No I don’t see…” His eyes still focusing from whatever had hit him.
Suddenly he recognized Nibbs, a balding male about his height, however a few years younger, with a portly stomach, holding blackened fingers mere inches from his face, requesting an answer he’d by now seemed to have guessed, “What is this Hadge?”
Hadge ogled the black smudge, recalling the sinister black snow falling just before he drifted to sleep in the field of flowers. The last time the snow came was seven years ago, reeking of death, the everlasting smell lasting months, and with it many had vanished. He sadly announced, “Black snow.” Nibbs feverishly yelled, “Then everyone’s dead!” Hadge firmly barked, “No!” He refused to give up on the others so easily; “We can follow them, and bring them home.” Nibbs stiffly retorted, “We’re no match for reavers.” Hadge surmised, “Maybe we’re not.” Pointing out, “But we can’t let our friends die either.” Solemnly Nibbs answered, “Your right.”
Hadge stood upright, still black as night from the ash, eerily to be mistaken for the outline of a reaver. When a form dashed into the room yelling, “Die reaver!” Hadge scarcely blocked the weapon soaring at his already aching skull. He quickly identified the offender at the other end of the rotten tree branch, howling at that darned Uwee, “What the heck is wrong with you people?” Uwee begged, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to help.” Adding for good measure, “But you do look like a reaver.” Hadge just turned away, crossly ordering, “Lets just go.”
A short while later they were all on the trail headed south towards Ennead Mountains. The trail led through the endless field of flowers, which was secretively intertwined with woodbine vines, a wild form of honeysuckles. The trodden plants left a great sorrowing divide, upset with personal effects belonging to the people they knew, Uma’s glo rock necklace, Feo’s homemade bow and arrows, clothes, and many more things. Without warning Reybe grew anxious, barking at something dark in the field. They cautiously moved closer, only to find the bodies of several small children, like tiny rag dolls left in the mud.
Out of nowhere the fairies materialized, gathering protectively around the children, their tiny voices weeping at the sight, and began to sing a heartrending melody. Hadge walked up next to the circle, the fairies spreading only to let him enter, as the atmosphere within felt as warm as a comforting fire. He examined the children, they were still alive, although just barely. He pulled a tonic from his backpack, giving a little to each child, hearing all the teeny tiny voices of the fairies chatter to him at once, “Yes.” He answered, “Please keep them safe until we return.” As the swarm of fairies swathed the children’s little bodies, and swept them away with a breeze, without a doubt the children were now gone. “Lets keep going.” Hadge gave a resolved look, “But.” Uwee pointed towards the empty spot where the children had lain. “Don’t worry, they’re safe.” Hadge assured them, “Now lets keep moving.”
Morbidly the closer they came to the mountains, the thicker the black snow beneath their feet, wearily trudging through nine inches now. The red rains had replaced the snow for sometime, soaking everything to a vivid red. The overwhelming smell of death sickened them all, each randomly halting to heave a
long the dismal path. The turbulent noise of water kept growing louder; strangely from the muddle of noise voices could be heard, as if in conversation, however faint as a whisper. Hadge twisted to look at the others following behind, asking, “What did you say?” Uwee curiously cocked an eyebrow, declaring, “We didn’t say anything.” And the voices were now gone.
Far as the eye could see was the forest of dead pines screening the Gehemma River. No one ever came to the river, because the reavers were too thick, guarding their deadly factories on the opposite side of the water. The giant spires from the factories could be seen above the tops of the trees, yet oddly the reavers were nowhere in sight, although it did not mean they weren’t there. Hadge had to wonder, “Does any of this have something to do with those damnable torches?” At what time he thought he heard an airy sigh answer, “Yessssssssssss!” He twisted this way, and that way searching for the fairy Ruby, but she was nowhere in sight. It merely had to be a figment of his imagination, or maybe he was just losing his mind.
They arrived in a clearing of the dead pines, a perfect circle where nothing grew. The Elders held to the belief they were fairy circles, but Hadge believed they have a much more sinister origin, like some kind of scar. Quickly their attention was drawn to the hideous dark factory bulging from the surface, like a vast unsightly boil upon the land. It was nestled in the midst of the dead pines, at the base of Ennead Mountains, where all the freakishly large mushrooms seemed to grow. The mushrooms were taller than the factories, hiding the evil in their shadows, even as the emissions of eerie black smoke from a factory spires greatly resembled the mushrooms.
The factory itself resembled a massive mollusk shell, having the odd appearance of a living sentient being. It breathed in and out, expanding its dark vein covered surface, as one large central vein traversed its entire expanse, with that veined intestine ending at the river. Intermittingly the vein seemed to expel a red waste into the once clear Gehemma river, seeing that most of the putrid chunky substance was locally blocked by hundreds of falling tree’s, flowering woodbine vines, and other unidentifiable debris settled near the bowels of the factory. It was an unbearably revolting stench, far worse than even the black snow.
Hadge had the uneasy feeling that’s where their friends were taken, time was running out, they had to keep moving. He ordered, “We’ll cross the dam.” Uwee cleared his throat, asking, “How?” From where they stood you could plainly see the dam had fallen in the Gehemma River, most likely long ago, which barely flowed from all the collective debris over the years.
That option was impossible, as he scoped the waters edge for another way across. Nibbs recklessly ran headlong into the water, yelling as he ran, “We can swim for it!” Even as Uwee started to follow, halted by Hadges deafening screams, “Noooooooo!!!” It was too late, Nibbs began to convulse in the wastewater, shrieking, “Something’s biting me!” He barely made it back to shore.
Nibbs body was covered in blood, hard to tell if it were his own, or from the river. His body had tiny chunks missing from all over his flesh, as a few of the dastardly culprits were still latched onto his skin. They were inch and a half long white worms, with two black bulbous eyes, insignificant little black legs, resembling what people used to call maggots. Hadge hadn’t encountered such things before, wondering, “What are they?” At the same time as he recalled the flies drawn to the waste in his nightmare life, supposing, “The creatures must have been born out of necessity, spawns of hell.”
Abruptly chilling screeches escaped Nibbs, as he frantically beat his body, “Get’em out of me!!! Get’em out of me!!!” Everywhere you could see those things moving just under his skin, he was infected with that monstrous hell spawn. Hadge promptly held his friend down, using his dagger to kill the spawns, one by one piercing the flesh. While Nibbs unrelenting screams went on, “ I can feel them inside me!” And on, “Get them out!!!” There were just too many, seeing how fast the bloodsucking creatures appeared to move, some surely had moved deeper by now. The saddened fact of the matter, Nibbs death would be imminent, a day, maybe a week, a month at the most, guessing was irrelevant at this time. He writhed in agony, as Hadge searched in his pack withdrawing a handful of dried leaves, while miscellaneous other things fell to the wayside, and he ordered, “Eat this. It will help with the pain.” Nibbs begrudgingly did as he was told; wrinkling his nose to the offensive odor the leaves gave off.
All at once Reybe took a position of attack, snarling murderously, and focusing on Hadge. Hadge was momentarily confused as to why Reybe would violently turn on him. He tried to diffuse the situation, even as he raised his hand in a calm approach, softly speaking, “Its ok boy.” Which goaded the dog further, as he viciously snapped at him. Hadge had no idea what to do next, considering, “I may have to kill him.” Hearing Uwee shout from the shoreline, “Behind you!” Until he realized another snarling beast stood directly at his back, almost certainly drawn to all the noises they had made, however this thing was in no way friendly.
Then Reybe leapt over Hadges head, onto the hideous charcoal tinted demon dog. They tore fiercely at each other’s throats, and it was hard to tell which dog was which, since their color and size were so very similar, until one dog was left standing. “Which dog?” Was the problem? It was Reybe, he had killed the beast, running to stand next to his master, “Good boy.” Hadge automatically petted Reybe. He gaped at the odd dead creature, as if in deep contemplation, “What could it be?” He hadn’t seen the likes of such a beast ever before. The beasts front paws bizarrely looked like hands, which at present had the misgivings of a fabled gremlin, long pointy ears, in addition to a stretched muzzle, and it too carried the same types of fleshy growths that Reybe had, so that led him to assume it must be some kind of dog.
Hadge was certain things would only get worse from here, and it would be much easier if he went alone, he would simply have to worry about himself. He calmly suggested, “Uwee, you stay with Nibbs and Reybe.” A firm hand seized his arm, “No!” Nibbs expression was that of determination, “I’m going.” Hadge argued, “You can hardly stand upright.” Then Uwee chimed in, “Well. If he’s going, I’m going.” Hadge rolled his eyes, and could do no more than express this lunacy, “Oh my Yahveh. You two grubbs will be the death of me.” Uwee grinned mischievously, and said, “Ok.” Simply asking, “Now what do we do?” Hadge narrowed his eyes at the grubb, growling, “What do you think? We have to cross the river.” Uwee disregarded him, blabbering on, “Oh. Yea right.” He casually proposed, “Why don’t we just use that boat right over there?” pointing to an old wooden rowboat, hidden under a thick layer of dried brush. Hadge felt a moment of disgust, gave Uwee an irritable look of loathing, “You know kid…sometimes I hate you.” Uwee grinned wickedly, laughing out loud, “Sometimes I think the same thing about you.” Then he ran to drag the boat from the bushes.
Hadge turned en route to his backpack; he had to clean up the mess he made. Nibbs had already began to pick up the assorted items that were thrown aside, shoving them inside the pack even in his state of pain, a canteen, some bandages, rope, a number of long russet candles. Hadge recalled the candles never seemed to work, he’d tried lighting them several times, but they would only fizz, and spark. “You can leave them.” He stated, “They don’t work.” And took the pack from his friend. Hadge shoved the mysterious book securely inside, he wasn’t about to lose it now, after all the trouble he’s been into to obtain it.
The startling crash of the boat breaking the waters surface reminded Hadge of the task at hand, stopping to glance at the rickety old weather worn boat, having second thoughts to its seaworthy condition. Nibbs arose adjusting his bloody clothing, hobbling to the shore, with Hadge helping him to the boat. Uwee self-righteously handed Hadge a white plastic bucket, stating, “I thought you could use this to row the boat.” Hadge grudgingly took the pail with his free hand, promptly spotting another nearby. Hadge retorted in a holier-than-thou attitude, topped by a smirk, “There’s yours.” Uwee comp
lained, “Oh man…I don’t know how to row a boat.” Hadge smugly declared, “Your learning today.”
Soon they had set sail in the hellish Gehemma River. The river gurgled to life around them, starting with the deafening din of insects chirring, merged with the sickening glugs of waste escaping the factory, and the debris amplifying the garbled currents. The contents of the debris were shockingly obvious, arms, legs, and intestines. They slowly paddled across the nasty river, observing the little white creatures break the surface everywhere, ravenously feeding on the debris, until the movement of the boat attracted them in their direction. Then the monstrous little spawns followed them by the thousands, an action suggestive of fresh meat, as if they knew they were in the boat.
Suddenly the boat sprang a leak. Nibbs irrationally jumped upright screaming, “They’ll get inside!” Instantly the boat rocked precariously from side to side, putting a strain on the worn out wood, creating yet another leak, and another. Hadge roughly jerked him down, barking out orders, “Sit down and shut up! You’ll kill us all!” Then sternly turned his gaze on Uwee, “Row faster!”
The boat steadily sank into the scarlet water, closer and closer they came to those hungry awaiting spawns. Hadge anxiously eyed the opposite shore, for what seemed an eternity, until the shoreline was close enough to jump. He ordered everyone, “Jump!” Reybe easily bounded the distance without coercion. Uwee hesitantly yelled, “I cant!” Hadge exploded, “JUMP!” Then Uwee hurdled across, while Hadge seized Nibbs by the collar, and leg, flinging him across the distance. Hadge had no time to think the jump through; he just took that leap of faith. The bow of the boat at present had sunk below the waterline, feeling the tip of his toe touch the blood stained waters. He feared that small connection was close enough for the spawn to attack, as second seemed like hours, and land was far away. At last he landed safely on shore with the others, at once glancing at his foot, finding it hard to believe they had all made it across.
They sat several long moments in silence; all watching the boat vanish beneath the bloody water. Air bubbles popped to the surface where the boat had once been, and the menacing little spawn favored the shore where they now sat. Hadge quickly surveyed their surroundings; numerous dead pines and woodbine vines safely screened the area. The shelter allowing them a small break.
Suddenly heart-rending screams plagued these shores, thousands of cries. Cries of mourning, as the invariable sound went on, and on. Hadge felt overwhelmed, tears streaming down his face, as the terrible sounds had awakened him to reality, and to what had brought them here in the first place, to save their friends.
Hadge looked at Uwee and Nibbs, saying, “We have to get moving.” To his surprise, they were eating woodbine berries. Promptly he slapped them from their hands, bellowing, “They are poisonous!” He raved like a madman, “Dumb…Berries!” He ranted onward, “Stupid…Grubbs!” All in all thinking, “What idiots!” Wondering how in the world they had lived this long.
The snow was falling yet again, and the spires of the nearby factory released its toxic vapors, seeming to horrifyingly coincide with the screams. Which left the question to ask, “What the hell is going on in there?” Hadge moved closer to the trees, he wanted a better look at the reaver factory. The walls were like skin, thick and slimy, there were no windows, no doors. From where he stood it looked hopeless, as he began fixating on the subject at hand, “We have to find a way inside? Before time runs out.”
Out of the murky blackness dozens of reavers appeared, they were herding a group of humanlike figures. As they poked and prodded their prey, all of which were crying out in despair. The passels were being lead straight towards the dark factory, a place well known for the fact, once you enter, no one ever returns.
Then one of the male’s bolted from the group, trying to escape, yelling as he ran. At once a reavers spear fatally gored him, hearing it rip his flesh as it entered his chest, and the poor mans body dropping where he had stood in the ashes. The lasting sounds of his death remained, the rattling breath of blood filling his lungs, growing shallow, until it slowly faded away, and his body at last ceased to move. Finally the others were horded into a strange black opening in the wall of the factory, a doorway unseen by the naked eye.
“That’s it!” Hadge exclaimed, “That’s our way in.” Then motioned to the others to follow, “Come on.” Quietly sneaking towards that same opening, certain this had to be insanity that led them all to the devils door. The cries growing unbearably louder, with every step their eardrums throbbed in pure agony, and the sense to flee overpowering.
The bizarre entryway looked precisely like the outer membrane of the factory, breathing in and out. The entrance vanished only when it detected movement, opening up to a mysterious deep black hole. Uwee hastily piped, “I’m not going in there.” And turned to go the other way, held fast by Hadges grip, as he simply uttered, “Have you forgotten about your sister Uma?” Hadge at first wasn’t certain if they should dare to enter or not, darkness can hide many things he feared, but in the end they really had no choice, since they came to save their friends. Uneasily they entered the black hole, into the unknown, fearing what may be on the other side.
The inky blackness enveloped them, a nebulous of dark shapes shifting before their unfocused eyes. The fleshy floor beneath their feet severely slanted downward, steadily breathing in and out, like the resilient black skin of something truly alive, making the simple task of walking a chore. After a few moments their eyes adjusted to the weird environment, seeing haphazard holes riddled throughout the floor, each odorous hole rancor with the smell of death. Everywhere the view of the expanse was thwarted by copious amounts of soaring black pilings, each of the pilings spindled from ceiling to floor, all covered in sticky black ooze. Hadge examined one of the nearby pilings, realizing its whole structure was nothing but a stringer of mucus, mucus that clung to the entire cavity of this place. He repulsively emulated the stuff to something he knew, “It’s like chewing a sand slug, when u get to the gooey center, and it leaves slimy stringers between your teeth.”
Precarious cries rebounded inside the factory, making its origination impossible. Then an outline stirred within the entrance, and the voices yowled, “Help…” Other captives were being forced into the factory, as their distressed cries echoed just out of sight. Hastily they hid in the shadows of a slimy spire, watching the reavers roughly herd the humans through the jungle of stringers, and darkly out of sight.
Hadge rushed to follow, deftly hiding in the shadows. The group was being led towards a multitude of strange blackened gears, each gear suspended from mucus like stringers, which extended as far as the eye could see. Everywhere random bursts of black fire shot from the holes in the floor, permeating the smell of death beyond humanly conception. The fire generated a sickly glow, teasing the sense of sight in flashes, revealing the factories secrets little by little. The blackened gears were suspended in a line, assembling throughout this place, stopping at various key points along the route, somewhat like a conveyer belt, which distributed its wares.
To Hadges horrification a reaver singled out a female, its crushing grip dug into her shoulders, tearing her from the struggling group. She boldly fought against the monstrous beast, crying out. Hadge could only ask, “What in the world are they doing?” By all that is unholy the cold-blooded reaver picked up the flailing girl, forcing her towards the strange gears, plunging her back onto two meat hooks. Hadge felt his body nervously shake with rage, until he realized humans dangled everywhere in this Yahveh forsaken building,
All at once a multitude of cries merged in his head, sure this was happening everywhere in the factory, people were being processed for something. Scream upon other unplaced screams, he could only think one thing beyond the house of horrors, “This needs to stop!” Warily he measured the cumulation of reavers, “I can’t just sit here.” Angrily subsided that he could do nothing at the moment, “There’s too many to fight.”
The humans were like anima
ls to slaughter. Each of the dangling victims was slowly rotated through the structure, approximating an assembly line. They would pass amid reavers who stabbed, as well as prodded the yielding flesh, tasting of their innocent blood. Still no rest for the weary, as even more torturous devices stabbed at them, they would bleed and beg for mercy, nonetheless there is no mercy in Hell. The gruesome conveyer rounded to the final stages, jerking each victim to a halt above a giant funnel like pod. Then long bony spider limbs reached up and around the prey, expertly dissecting the flesh, and the victims were disemboweled. Blood and organs sifted through the funnel, and out into the awaiting troughs below.
The gory trough sloshed its ghastly contents, as strange figures sat upright around the duct far and wide. The darkly lit forms appeared to be grabbing bits of human flesh from the flow, and eating it. “Uooomph…”Hadge repressed the urge to vomit, with only a tiny sound escaping his clinched lips. His attention had been drawn to the strange hideous hands of the beasts, reminding him of the dog from the river, a dog with humanlike hands, but not a real dog, “Possibly hellhounds.” He thought, “But he’d only heard stories from the Elders.” The gruesome hellhounds eerily fought over the innards, which ran the course of the conveyer. The trough ended at a giant bladder, dumping the remains inside, which had to expel the waste into the river, turning the river into a bloodbath.
The lifeless bodies then traveled to the next stop of the assembly line, dangling above a large hole in the floor. The upwards draft from the hole rocked them back and forth. All at once the blackened hell fire shot up engulfing the inert body. Smoke and ash arose upwards, the soot exiting the spires, spires that could be seen for miles, filling the atmosphere with human particles. The fiery breath ended as quickly as it began, with the charred body fractionally smaller than its original size.
Hadge for the first time could see the face of evil, as the withered carcass ceased to move, he had watched the ritual birth of a reaver, and seen the last hellish expression frozen on its face. He wanted to scream, feeling his heart pounding, his breath erratic, his heart wanted so much to cry, but any noise would give them away. He had to stop this torture, and stop it now.
Another group was marched into Hell; he recognized Uma, and Feo. Uwee and Nibbs had noticed them at the same time, Uwee asking, “What are we going to do?” Hadge helplessly didn’t know how to help them, feebly answering, “I don’t know.” For now he would monitor the groups every movement, and hope a plan would ensue. Nibbs flinched, “We have to help them.” Hadge steadied his friend’s arm, stating, “And we will.” It was alarmingly to watch them being forced towards the conveyer, and a plan would be now or never.
The remote pish of Uwee’s inane voice could be heard asking, “What is this?” Then plucked one of the fleshy growths off Reybe’s back. Without warning the unsightly giant flea screeched loudly. The sound ricocheting through the dreadful space, enough noise to draw all the attention in their direction. Hadge hastily snatched the flea from Uwees hands, rumbling, “Give me that.” Throwing it as far as he could. Deep down what he’d rather done, was to kill that grubb.
Reavers and hellhounds everywhere stopped. Gazing ominously in the path of the sound, as several hellhounds trekked to sniff the flea. It seemed they could smell something more than the flea, maybe a human scent, as the demons slowly worked their way towards Hadge and the others. Hadge felt sorely incapacitated, holding his breath, hoping the beasts would move the other direction. Uwee nervously asked, “What are we going to do now?” Hadge leveled his accusing eyes at the grubb, and flatly said, “Shut up.” Then Nibbs said, “I have an idea.” Just as Hadge turned to tell him no, he’d vanished like a blur.
Suddenly Nibbs had jumped up, running in the opposite direction. Hadge ineffectually whispering after him, “What are you doing?” However his reasoning was clear, he was creating a diversion for his friends, dangerously drawing attention to the all the hellish creatures. Nibbs ran through the maze of stringers, around the holes in the floor, along the conveyer. By now he had reavers and hellhounds all chasing him. The lone sound of his voice shouted, “Save them!” Hadge sadly could only do as Nibbs asked, knowing not many would sacrifice themselves for the benefit others, speculating if the connotation had something to do with the swarm, and his imminent death. Without further thought they dashed towards Uma and the other, which were now guarded by only one reaver. Hadge shoved the reaver into a nearby hole, yelling at the others, “Lets move!” Uwee barked, “You heard him!” Pushing the others into motion, “Move!” Hadge lead them to the exit, which was now sealed shut, they would have to find another way out, and fast.
They ran back to the conveyors, at top speed, but a way out eluded them. Uwee pointed towards the trough. Hadge snapped, “No!” He watched the disgusting contents flow its length, which expelled its waste from the very bowels of hell, and he believed it might work. Nevertheless he wretchedly thought, “But very disgusting.”
Suddenly a hellhound bit Nibbs, ripping a hole in his already threadbare pants, as one of the worthless candles fell from his pocket, candles that he was supposed to throw away. The candle had found its way within one of the holes, just as the hell fire had burst forth, sending a great explosion across the room, and bodies to the floor.
Hadge picked himself up off the floor, astounded, “Dang…” Sure those weren’t candles after all. He anxiously returned to the task at hand, helping each of his friends onto the blood filled trough, Uma, Feo, Uwee, Reybe, and all the others. Their forms had turned crimson, concealed easily by the innards, slipping and sliding towards the disgusting exit. Hadge turned to find Nibbs, surprised to see he was still running. He was sure they could both make it out alive, yelling at his friend, as if to say everyone was safe now, “Nibbs!” Then jumped into the trough himself, eagerly watching Nibbs, feeling the muck pull him along.
Hadge caught a fading glimpse of the brave little grubb, he could see Nibbs reaching in his torn pocket, pulling several more of those explosive candles out, and his plan had become quite clear. Hadge had to stop him, urgently trying to halt his movements along the trough, howling, “Nooooooo!” His body was still being quickly pulled along the trough, and sucked into the large collection bladder. Hadge could scarcely see through the haze of blood, just as the blurry image of Nibbs leapt into the black hell fire, and an explosion blasted debris in every direction. The last thing he remembered seeing was a ghostly bright white light reaching out to him, as he felt his body flushing downward, temporarily depriving his senses of sight, sound, and air to breathe.
The next thing he remembered was being expelled in mid air from the hellish factory, his mind screaming, “Nibbs didn’t have to die!” He could see flashes of blood-streaked faces below him, assured that the others were safe. He landed hard on the slippery pine tree’s damming the river. The trees surface had grown slithery, like sponge in his hands, as he struggled to stay out of the water, positive the spawn were waiting. Uma screamed his name, “Hadge!” And promptly pulled him up to safety.
Someone yelled, “Run!” Setting his stunned body into motion. He peered back at the falling factory, even as they maneuvered across the slick debris to escape the explosion. Almost immediately the spongy debris beneath them began to collapse, as rotting trees fell into the river. And assuredly the spawn was out there waiting for them to fall. Horrifyingly they had escaped one hell for another, as death truly wanted to claim them on this very day.
Suddenly the woodbine vines lifted them up and out of the river, like the tentacles of a sea beast. Screams came from every direction, as the vines hovered over land. Hadge frantically tugged at the vine, screaming, “Nooooooooooo!”
Oddly he heard what sounded like the fairies singing, as he could see the tiny creatures flying about, like minuscule specks in this great big world. Then he heard a familiar teeny tiny voice next to his ear, impishly whispering, “I thought you could use some help.” Then she spoke again, but not to him, “You can put them down now.”
At once the vines set them on the ground, and he realized she had been talking to the vines. Then she sat playfully on the tip of his nose, titillated by his confused expression, and laughing at his entertainingly crossed eyes.