The three of them stood out in the open, dumbfounded. The dark figure stood about twenty yards away, but it was still hidden in shadow. Enshrouded enough to conceal its true shape. When I stared at it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Two silver disks for eyes and a leaning, predatory stance made it look like something out of your wildest nightmares. A real life boogeyman.
Cindi and Lynn were just as stunned as I was. I tried to turn toward them, but my body didn't want me to look away. I was in a trance, unable to will myself away. I felt someone grip my shoulder.
"We have to go," Cindi said. I turned to her. She was watching it, transfixed by it, like a deer in headlights. I nodded at her and turned to Lynn, who also stood alert, watching the figure. He was shaking a little.
"Lynn," I said. Trying to cut through the spell the figure has on us. "Lynn, we have to run."
"Monty," Cindi said, "let's just go."
I tap the side of Lynn's shoulder. He silently acknowledged me, but did not turn away. I didn't blame him. My stomach had dropped and I could feel a weight in my core pulling me down. It's like gravity was making up for a life of weightlessness. Slowly, the weight of the world was crawling back to me. I could tell that was what Cindi and Lynn were feeling too. A kind of weight that pulled them back to it.
I grabbed Lynn's upper arm and jerked him back, breaking his trance.
"We have to go now!" Cindi shouted. Lynn turned around and bolted after Cindi. I followed close behind. Something invisible, like concentrated wind, tried to pull me back, but I shrugged it off. The farther we ran, the harder it was to push forward.
"Something's pulling me back," I said. Cindi said something back, but I couldn't hear her. A rush of wind drowned out the words like an underwater whisper.
My knees buckled and dragged me down. I stumbled over myself.
"Cindi, wait!" She stopped and swiveled over her right foot to look back at me. I looked in her eyes and saw something I didn't think was possible. Her eyes were wide, twitchy with fear. She looked like a train was heading straight for her. That's when I knew I couldn't look back.
"Monty…" she choked out the words. I remembered back then, this feeling. Like I was being pulled into something. My parents, my home, swallowed up. I couldn't go through something like that again. Not now, not ever.
I launched toward Cindi and kept my eyes facing ahead. "Don't look back!" I grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward. She gradually started running again, following me and Lynn. But she occasionally looked back at whatever was behind us. Lynn did not.
"I'm sorry Cindi," I said. "For falling behind."
"Huh? That's the last thing we should be worried about."
We made our way back towards main street. Whatever it was did not want to follow us off of the beach. I thought about going back and checking it out again. But the feeling came back to me. The awesome power it had over us. No, we can't risk it.
Besides, neither Cindi or Lynn looked like they wanted anything to do with it.
"What was that…that thing?" Lynn asked.
"How the hell should we know?" Cindi shouted at him. Her eyes were lit with something furious. Even Lynn took a step back. When the shock wore off, his cheeks grew tomato red.
"Why are you losing your shit on me?"
"Cause you've been chasing Monty and me all over the wharf, and now you think you can just be buddy-buddy with us? Hell-no. Run back to your little gang of misfits."
Lynn scoffed. His eyes narrowed.
"If it wasn't for me, those guys would've beaten both of your asses by now."
Cindi stepped forward, getting up in his face. "I'd like to see them try. Besides, if it wasn't for us, you'd be mince-meat, a goner."
"Bull-shit. You're the one who tripped over thin air."
"You tripped me!"
"Did not! Where the hell did you come up with that idea?"
I tried to get between them, but I felt that if I did really try to, I'd get caught up in something dangerous.
"Guys, let's just cool down," I said. I reached out to pull them apart. My palms grew cold, and the weight of Cindi and Lynn slipped from my fingers. A quiet wind brushed against my hair, and suddenly I was alone in the middle of the street, with not a single person around.
"Cindi?" I asked. No one answered. "Cindi!" I called out, a little louder. "TD? Lynn?"
I was utterly alone, or so I thought. Did it get darker out? The street lights flickered, on and off, like lights at the bottom of a pool; Some invisible veil washed out the warmth, leaving a cool reflective lens over the world.
Two lights stood out to me. They didn't flicker like the others. Two silver disks watching me.
Eyes.
I stepped back. The feeling returned. Like I had the entirety of the bay above me, slowly pressing down on my head. Some kind of pressure.
"Who⏤" I stuttered out, "Who's there!"
A muffled voice called out.
I asked again, "What did you do to Cindi? Where is she?"
It cackled. "I wouldn't be worried. She's a dangerous one; can hold her own. Now, on the other hand…" The figure walks out of the dark, a silhouette bathed in shadow. "I'm not sure what to say about you."
"I'm not afraid," I said.
"I find that hard to believe." Its hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I cringed. "You're shaking."
Why am I so afraid?
"What do you want from me?"
A flash of light, a gust of wind. Something pulled me around. I pivoted on my heels like a dancer, and suddenly I was face to face with the figure. His voice, like a chamber orchestra in the distance, said to me, "I want to offer you a deal." The words crawled inside of my head like a spider in a web.
What's his problem?
Obviously, making a deal with this…thing, was not a good idea. Though, I could hardly refuse.
"All I need from you is a vessel."
"A…a vessel?"
"I can save your friends."
"From what?"
"From that."
In the distance, a flash of light splits the sky.
"A reckoning," the figure said. "An Ascension."
"Leave us alone," I said. What the hell was going on? None of this made any sense. Reckoning? Ascension? Just what did I get myself into. Cindy. What is she thinking right about now? My breathing steadied. There would be time later to worry. I had to say something now. "Did you cause the lightshow earlier?"
Something like a smile crossed the figures' non-existent face.
"I said⏤"
"Fine. You want this to go that way, huh? I'll take my vessel then. You belong to me."
The world went numb. A low hum shook the earth around me. Another flash of light illuminated the space around me. Pebbles rose into the air, lighter than feathers. A vortex opened up in the world and it was dragging me in. I held my breath, bracing for the worst. I couldn't imagine a worse way to end my night.
"It'll all be over soon…"
I felt something numb inside my chest. It spread out, like an infection. Soon, the feeling completely enveloped me.
Please…someone save me.