Born of Darkness (Short Story)

Born of Darkness

The air stirred above the mouldering earth. A slight hiss sounded as a jet of pure black emerged from below a clod of mud. The stars shone down upon this absence of light, this void, this abhorrent aberration. The darkness swirled and eddied, it took a form and then lost it. A small breeze blew over the ancient burial ground sweeping the leaves before it and moving the empty branches of the trees that surrounded this unhallowed spot.

Hundreds of years before, this the area had been a dumping ground for murderers, witches and other unholy creatures that the dwellers of the long ago vanished village that had stood near there, had put to death for their evil practices. A virtual melting pot of wickedness which had lain putrefying, fomenting and evolving. Now it had given birth to a travesty, a virtual hybrid from hell. The entity had sentience and a grudge against those who been instrumental in creating it.

The house had lain empty for years. Its outside walls showed signs of damage caused by dampness and freezing conditions. Some of the windows were broken and frayed, rotting curtains emerged from the holes. The whole house was a picture of sadness and despair. A virtual black hole that swallowed not light, but hope.

But Annie fell in love with it as soon as she saw it sitting forlornly in the woodland glade. A witch’s house out of Hansel and Gretel she thought, already making plans for the house’s restitution. Pink curtains, white paintwork, ivory coloured walls and tope carpets. That what was needed, a woman’s touch and the house would be fit for a king, her king – Rab.

Rab and Annie had been married for five years, but had lived in rented accommodation while they were saving for ‘their’ house. Rab drove a JCB digger on building sites. He worked for a large consortium called Blackwell. The company built a range of houses that came in at around £185 to £225,000. The work was steady and paid well. By scrimping and saving, their nest egg grew and at last reached a level that allowed them to look at potential areas to live. They pored over brochures from estate agents and prowled around neighbourhoods, looking, assessing and imagining. Their house would be perfect, Annie thought. A cosy, loving and welcoming property.

“Just one more to look at,” said Rab turning the car and moving slowly up the road from the last ‘desirable’ property they had just visited.

“You would think that they would have used an air freshener to hide the fact that they had eaten bacon and egg for breakfast!” moaned Annie.

“Yes my love and had bread baking and coffee brewing,” laughed Rab.

“You dope!” said Annie, pretending to smack him on the back of the head. “It’s staring to get dark. Do you think we will make it to the house before it is pitch black?”

Rab stopped the car at the start of a path that led into the woods. Already the brighter stars were beginning to show in the sky. Annie rushed him up the path for about two hundred yards, rounded a bush  and then they were looking at the property.

“Oh Rab,” was all Annie could say.

“Annie,………. it looks as if it needs a LOT done to it before we could even think about moving in” said Rab scratching his head.

The key was difficult to turn, but with Rab’s strength eventually the door opened – releasing a strong smell of rot and corruption. The remains of a grey carpet clung piecemeal to bits of the floor. Wallpaper hung in strips and a few mildew covered pictures hung crookedly off the walls. The lounge was much the same and Annie was sure she saw a rat dive for cover in the kitchen.

The bedrooms held one broken bed, a soiled mattress and bits of disintegrating clothing covering the floor. The ultimate horror was the bathroom with a large rusted bath, a heavily stained sink and a sour smelling toilet pan.

“Annie,” Rab groaned. “Let’s get out of here and NEVER come back!”

His wife shook her head sadly. “Yes, you are right. It has nothing going for it.”

They walked slowly down the stairs with the intention of going out the front door, locking it and after getting in their car and going home, but Fate was to intervene.

Annie happened to look at one of the pictures in the hall, on the mouldering wall.

“Oh Rab look at the wee lad,” she wailed, indicating a plaque on the wall.

It depicted a little boy on his knees with his hands clasped. He was looking upwards towards a little star which was high in his sky. “Bless this house” was written below him.

“It’s only a bit of tat Annie,” Rab grunted, but he knew that Annie’s heart had melted by the tears that ran down her cheeks.

A price was agreed and Annie and Rab Browen took possession of the property two weeks later. Rab’s friends on the building site lent a hand with a lot of the heavy work and the rewiring. A firm of painters did a ‘homer’ and soon the house was looking like a new pin. The heating was gas, provided by a propane gas tank that sat in the back yard. Annie’s friends helped plant the garden out and to relay a lawn in front of the house. As autumn drifted in and the nights began to get cold the house was snug and weatherproof.

“Rab?” asked Annie, one night they were lying in bed, about to go to sleep. “We were very lucky to get this house.”

“Oh?” replied Rab. “You mean there were other people wanting this property?”

“Oh, come on Ribby Rabby,” teased Annie. “You know what I mean. This house just feels right for us. If we hadn’t seen that wee lad’s picture we might never have decided on it.” She snuggled closer to her husband and closed her eyes.

The wind howled round Annie as she stood looking over the open plain. It was near dawn so there was a glow in the east. She shivered violently and hugged herself to keep warm. Two twisted and stunted trees bent low in the gale and lashed to and fro.

Annie could hear the sound of crying over the storm’s roar and it got louder and louder. Suddenly she saw a small figure approaching. This was the source of the weeping. Annie saw that it was a little boy who was making his way over the plain. The long grass whipped at his legs and body. His face was covered with tears.

Annie reached down for him and lifted him into her arms.

“Now, now son. You’re safe with me. Tell me why you’re crying.”

The boy sobbed and Annie felt her heart go out to him. He turned his face up to her and she heard him say, “It is coming back for me……..and for you.”

Annie gave a scream as she sat up in bed. The sweat poured off her and soaked the bed sheets.

“Raaabbbb!” she wailed. “Rab wake up!”

As she sat in her new kitchen sipping a cup of tea, Annie felt stupid. It had been a nightmare brought on by all that been happening, the move, the painting, the general hubbub that Rab and her had been through.

“You’ll be ok in the morning love,” said Rab. “Just try and get back to sleep.”

As Annie lay in bed listening to her husband’s snores she tried to think bright and happy thoughts, but the wee boy’s tear stained face kept appearing in her minds eye and his ominous words kept echoing in her head.

“It is coming back for me……..and for you.”

The days flew by and the ground frosts arrived. Rab and Annie would wake up to find a world of white wonder. The sun often shone and made the ice crystals sparkle and shine. That week the weather forecast was for snow showers and Rab made sure that the gas tank was topped up. Annie baked and filled the freezer with pies and bread. Her cupboards were well stocked up with canned goods too. Should the weather turn bad they knew that they wouldn’t starve.

Annie had not forgotten her nightmare and often stopped at the little boy’s plaque to read or let her fingers brush it. Who were you? She would think. What happened to you?

One evening Rab came in from work early.

“The weather is due to turn nasty tonight. The foreman sent us all home early.” He said checking the heaters thermostat. “Hope it doesn’t last for too long.”

Annie felt a shiver run down her back. She went through to the bedroom to get a cardigan to put on.

Both Rab and Annie woke at 2am to hear the wind howling outside. They could hear hail hitting the windows and roof. Every so often a gust would strike the house and make it shudder.

“Never mind Annie,” said Rab rolling over in the bed. “We’re warm and we have plenty to eat, so go back to sleep.”

All night the storm raged and when Rab got up in the morning the wind was still blowing strong.

“It’s been a white out,” said Rab looking out of the window. “It must be feet deep out there and it’s still snowing!”

“You won’t be going to work then?” Annie asked.

“Na, the road will be blocked,” said Rab. “I’ll give the foreman a ring.”

Rab tried the landline first but the wires were obviously down and he couldn’t get a dialling tone. Everyone was using their mobiles too, for each time Rab tried all he got was the engaged signal.

Late in the afternoon Rab finally got through and confirmed with the foreman that all roads were blocked and nothing was moving. Annie cooked two steaks and some potatoes for their meal. Rab had a beer and paced about like a caged animal.

“There isn’t anything you can do Rab,” said Annie. “We’re trapped till they clear the roads”

When Annie and Rab made ready for bed that night the snow had stopped falling but a freezing wind blew and froze all it touched.

Next morning Rab dressed up warm and he gingerly opened the front door. A little snow fell into the hall. Stepping out the door Rab began shovelling the snow from the path and began piling it up on either side. Soon he had reached the bottom of the garden and began tentatively to dig out his car which at that time was just a heap of snow. Gradually he dug round vehicle and soon had cleared a path right round.

Suddenly Annie heard him shout,

“Annie, quickly come here! There’s someone inside the car!”

Living in the country Rab never locked his car and someone had obviously crawled inside to escape the weather. Annie and her husband helped an old man out of the car and into the house. His chin was covered with a beard and the end of his nose was blue. Annie could hardly hear him breathing and so they quickly sat him by a heater, covered him with blankets and tried to raise his temperature.

All through that day the old man lay in a comatose state. Annie tried to get him to take some chicken soup, but he could not swallow anything.

“We’ll have to get a doctor for him,” said Annie after she had again tried to get some soup into him. “He is liable to die otherwise.”

Rab tried the mobile, but once again the engaged signal rang out. The wind was rising again and with it would come the snow.

Rab and Annie carefully undressed the old man and put him into their spare bed. They put extra blankets over him.

“The car is almost buried again,” said Rab, looking out of the window. “I’m sure even if we could raise a doctor, he wouldn’t be able to get to us.”

That night Annie once again awoke on that accursed plain where the wind screamed over the long grass and lashed the stunted trees. She had the little boy in her arms, but he was not crying, he just stared into her eyes. Annie heard the wind shriek,

“It is too late for tears. It is come and is with you. God save you!”

Annie sat upright in bed. She was freezing and knew that the dream was a warning.

“Rab,” she whispered. “Rab we are in mortal danger, I know it.”

Her husband slept on totally ignorant of his wife’s terror.

The smell of bacon frying woke Annie. She felt the saliva running in her mouth at the thought of the meal. Pulling on her dressing gown and putting on her slippers she made her way downstairs.

The old man stood at the gas cooker a spatula in one hand and a frying pan in the other. Annie could see pieces of bacon and fried eggs sitting in hot spitting fat.

“How do you like your eggs? Sunny side up?” he asked.

“You…..you were almost dead last night. How can you be up? You were…..”Annie didn’t know what to say.

The old man laughed. “Annie, Annie. All of us Grennals are fast healers. All I needed was a night’s sleep in a comfy bed.”

Rab stumbled down the stairs half an hour later to find his wife eating breakfast with the old man.

“How…did you get up? I thought you were close to death……” Rab spluttered.

“Rab,” said Annie standing up. “Let me introduce you to Mr Emile Grennal…… Mr Grennal, my husband Rab.”

The two men shook hands and Rab sat down at the table. Annie placed a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him and a cup of coffee at his side and he was happy.

Later as Annie and Rab washed and dried the dishes they quizzed their guest.

“So what brought you up to this neck of the woods?” asked Rab putting the dried crockery away.

“I was driving, my car slid off the road into a snowdrift and I was unable to move it. So out I got and walked.”

“You could have died,” said Annie. “We are really in the boondocks here.”

“Ah well,” retorted Grennal. “I found your car as the blizzard hit and I climbed in and fell asleep. Sorry for trespassing.”

Both Annie and Rab assured him that no trespass had occurred. Rab commented that  it had been lucky that the car door had been unlocked.

All that day the wind blew and the snow fell. Rab tried to get a snow plough to come and clear the road but he was told that due to the weather all the ploughs were busy clearing the major roads and keeping them open.

As night fell, Rab stoked up the fire and he, Annie and Grennal sat round it.

After an hour Annie excused herself saying she was tired and was going to bed. Rab said that he would be up himself soon and put a few more logs on the fire. He placed a fire guard over the fireplace to stop any stray sparks escaping. He and Grennal wished each other a ‘goodnight’ and headed for their respective bedrooms.

Annie woke at three o’clock in the morning. It was pitch black and she could hear the wind buffeting the house. As she lay she could make out a voice very far away chanting. She felt sure that it was the voice of the storm, but as time went on Annie could make out words.

“…………Celsior……..rise and………….destruction…….since time before time.”

Annie tried to wake up Rab, but he seemed to be in a very deep sleep. Carefully making her way to the bedroom door, Annie crept towards the top of the stairs and leant over looking into the lower room.

The furniture had been pushed back leaving a large empty space. A white powder had been poured on the carpet in the shape of a circle and five lit black candles stood at points around the perimeter. Grennal stood in the middle of the circle with his arms raised on high. He was chanting out a prayer or an exhortation. The air coming up from the room was very cold and Annie could see her breath.

Suddenly the old man turned and looked up at Annie. He pointed at her and uttered some words. Instantly she felt as if hands were gripping her and slowly she was drawn down the staircase and towards the circle.

“Ah, Mrs Browen, do join me,” hissed Grennal. “Maybe you can help me with my magic.”

Annie screamed loudly and fought against the pressure that was bearing her nearer and nearer to the old man.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

A dark shape leapt down the stairs, it was Rab. Annie’s screams had awoken him and now he stood by his wife. He spun her round and dropped her into an armchair on the edge of the room.

“Now, Grennal, see how you get on attacking a man. You seem to enjoy scaring my wife,” Rab shouted.

“Whatever,” said the old man swinging his hand in the air.

Rab’s throat opened as if it had been cut with a knife. Arterial blood flew everywhere as he tried to staunch the flow. Rab fell to the ground and began twitching. The blood formed in an ever expanding pool. Annie watched on in horror.

Grennal pointed at Rab’s dead body and raised his hand. The big man’s body rose until it was standing erect. Blood now ran down the front of his shirt and it looked like he had a red bib on. Annie sobbed as she saw her husband being treated like a puppet, but what could she do?

Now that Annie and her husband were incapacitated the magician returned to his chanting. He used Rab’s blood by dipping his fingers in it and inscribing symbols within the circle.

All at once Annie felt a presence in the room. It was palpable by the intense cold and an unpleasant odour. She looked over at where Rab stood motionless and behind him she could see a column of what looked like dark smoke. Standing about six feet tall, it swirled continuously.

Grennal now turned his attention to the presence. He knelt down before it, careful to stay within circle of powder.

“Lord of the Dead,” he intoned. “I have brought you a gift.”

The magician pointed at Rab’s corpse and the cylinder of smoke moved closer to it.

“Take it over master,” Grennal whispered. “It is yours now!”

A portion of the blackness detached from the main body of darkness and seemed to enter Rab’s body. Nothing happened for a minute, and then one of Rab’s arms slowly rose. Next the corpse raised its leg and took a step.

“It is good to be again in possession of a corporeal body,” came a voice as deep as the veritable grave.

The creature that had been Rab Browen turned to face Annie. Its eyes burned red and as it opened its mouth saliva poured down its chin. Annie felt she was looking into the face of something from the Pit.

She screamed and running upstairs locked herself in the bedroom.

The next day dawned without Annie getting very much sleep.

She had pulled a heavy cupboard in front of the door to stop anyone getting in.

Crossing over to the window Annie saw that the snow was still deep around the house. A strong wind was blowing and moving the spindrift into the air in clouds.

Annie suddenly saw some movement and through the billowing clouds made out a figure, no! two………three! They struggled through the snow, often up to their waists, but making it.

Rescue, thought Annie, hysterically. These men would sort out Grennal. She hoped that they would kill him. He deserved to die for all the misery he had caused.

Quietly as possible Annie moved the cupboard away from in front of the door. She turned the handle on the door praying that it would not squeak.

Standing at the top of the stairs Annie listened. She could hear nothing from the room below, but was afraid to go any further.

Boom! Boom! Someone banged on the front door.

Boom! Boom! It came again, louder this time.

Grennal suddenly appeared and threw the door open.

“Get inside,” he said in a deep, commanding voice. “Stand against that wall!”

One by one the three men entered. They all moved slowly as if in a trance. Grennal followed them and they all went into the main living room.

Annie slowly crept down the stair until she could see into the room.

Grennal stood with Rab and the men surrounding him in a ring. He pointed what looked like a stick at each of them  and a blue flame seemed to emerge from the end to momentarily lick at their bodies. After this ritual the group began to sing in strange ululating moaning. Grennal stood with his eyes shut and his arms held out from his sides.

The moaning got louder and louder till Annie had to cover her ears.

The front door had been left open when the men had arrived and as annie watched a dark mist began rolling through the door into the hall. It flowed like a river straight into the front room and began to form itself into a pillar of smoke like vapour. Annie had seen this thing before, now it had returned!

Slowly the column began to spread out in three different streams, each headed for one of the men who had arrived. Just like Rab, the men were engulfed in it and as she watched Annie saw it enter their bodies. Their eyes took on the crimson, feral gleam.

Grennal suddenly swung round and pointed to the stair where Annie stood.

“Kill her!” he shouted. “Kill the bitch!”

All four men including her beloved husband turned and began rushing from the room towards the stairs. The emitted low growls and whines as they climbed the stairs. They were men no longer. They were beasts contaminated by the smoking blackness that had infected them.

Annie ran up the stairs and back into her bedroom. She locked the door but realised the combined weight of the four men would knock the door off its hinges. She looked around the room in desperation for something to fend off the creatures.

All there was in the room was a bed, a cupboard and a table. Nothing to use for a weapon!

The door was starting to bulge as the men pushed on it. Loud thumps came from the other side as they tried to gain entry.

Just when Annie thought that it was all over she heard a voice coming from behind her:

“Annie, Annie” the voice whispered. “I am here behind you.”

Turning quickly Annie looked behind her. There on the wall hung the picture of the little boy. Now he stood and held his hands out. The star gleamed behind him in his sky. The motif “Bless this House” glowed, casting out beams of light.

“Quickly Annie,” he said. “It has come for us both!”

Annie reached up and swung round holding the plaque until she faced the door. Suddenly it gave a crack and two of the men fell into the room. They rose snarling as Rab and the other man entered.

“Get back!” shouted Annie, raising her talisman in front of her defensively.

The emanating light struck the four men and they cowered back from it. Slowly Annie walked towards them forcing them out into the hall, down the stairs and back into the room where Grennal stood. His face was suffused with hate, but he too fell back under the onslaught of light.

As Annie watched the black smoke poured out of the four men and they fell to the floor like puppets whose strings had been cut. The column of pure evil began again to form, towering high above Annie. She could feel the hate and loathing radiating out of this monstrosity. Grannal began to chant:

“Mighty lord of the dark. I am your unworthy servant! Tell me what you wish me to do!”

The man had barely asked the question when a bubble on the surface of the column burst, spraying Grannal. Instantly his flesh began to smoke and large lumps of it sloughed off. He began screaming in a high falsetto voice until the acidic liquid burnt into his brain and he fell to the floor.

Annie stood with the plaque of the little boy between her and the hellish nightmare. It was a Mexican standoff  for she knew that this conglomeration of everything bad would not let her leave the house alive.

A cool breeze blew through her hair and Annie heard the voice again:

“Annie, Annie. It must not leave from here or the world’s troubles will magnify a thousand fold. Join us together Annie, there is no other way!”

“I can’t do it,” wailed Annie. “To throw something so pure into ……that!”

“You must Annie or Rab and these others died for nothing. Do it. Do it now!”

Annie gave the plaque a hug then deftly hurled it into the centre of the column. It vanished into the foul morass. Nothing happened for a minute and then light began streaming out from within it. The blackness was lightening; it was grey then suddenly bleached white. The column collapsed spilling across the floor spreading like dust. Suddenly a wind blew through the open door and causing a small tornado lifted and removed every trace of the now expunged evil, carrying it high in the sky to fall as a fine inert powder.

Although Annie searched the area she did not find the picture of the little boy, but she knew that he had sacrificed himself not only for her but for the good of the World.

During an evening she would gaze out at the hills and dales, at the setting sun and the golden clouds and wonder what the boy’s story had been, but she knew in her heart that she would never know until she was reunited with Rab and possibly…………… the little boy.