MACABRE(Wina K.) This is wrong.

I should head home, forget everything I saw back at the alley and get a good night sleep. The darkness reeks with death and I have difficulty to stay calm. This is not how I imagined spending the summer, breaking into people’s house which is as big as the national museum and getting trapped in a closet.

The mantel has no mercy, another brush and I’ll blow up the wooden door to bits. Someone enters the room and lights the chandelier, the crystal lights are poor yellow and I hope against hope that I’m well hidden. I pinch my nose as I see the lady approaching. The odds are good that I’m about to sneeze right at her.

“Loraine, do you see my baseball hat?” She turns at the call and I see that boy standing by the door, holding a sandwich in his right hand.

For a painful moment I hold my breath. Loraine seems to hesitate. She takes a short glance at where I hide and I sink deeper behind the thick layers of clothes. I hear the voices getting further and by Heaven’s sake, I sneeze. Those three could have gotten me caught if I’m not fast enough. I can hear footsteps rushing to that room, but by the time anyone reaches there, I’m already at the other side of the block, catching my breath.

There’s no way I’m going back there.

I feel the solid rock inside my pocket and am suddenly aware of the burn mark on my skin, it strikes me like nothing else and everything comes to view once again.

I was on my way back from school the day before, mourning at my D on Math, when I saw an old lady carrying a basket full of kittens. The small little paws crawling out, those kittens didn’t seem to be happy as the basket swung back and forth. And then, the green scaly tail appeared from under the blanket.

“Hey!” I shouted before I could stop myself, “there’s a snake in the basket!”

That was the dumbest thing to do.

Because when the old lady looked at me, she wasn’t smiling. She was sneering. Her teeth were like those of a chainsaw, her gaze paralyzed me, and her touch…

When she touched me with those icy fingers, my chest burnt. She slipped a rough rock somewhere on me, and what I heard next was a death sentence. Through her blazing eyes I saw images of a huge house and a boy around fifteen. The order was clear; get into the house, place the rock at the center of the main hall, or suffer an ugly death.

I must have looked so terrible my cat ran toward my brother when he saw me limping through the front door. And my brother is a sworn enemy of cats. Only now then I know, it wasn’t me he’s afraid of.

It was the three shadowless figures behind me.

* * *

So … My name is Max.

I’m thirteen, I bear the mark of Nemesis and in three days- I’m about to die.

The old saying about seeing ghosts and spirits when you’re close to death is true. They’re everywhere. And now three of them are sitting around my table at Wendy’s, watching me gleefully as I take a chunk of my Double Baconator. Splendid!

I don’t mind having them around, if they don’t stink so much. They smell like dry soil being washed with first rain, only it’s ten times worse. To chase them away will only cause trouble. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to have a mad ghost glowering at you in the shower or seeing part of their faces at your cereal bowl. I scooped an eyeball once and it’s nasty.

They don’t talk much. They simply sit there, watching me, and if they’re in a good mood, they’ll play. Like now. Maria, the little girl, takes a fork and stabs herself with it, right between the eyes. They like showing me the way they had died. The other two ghosts … well, I’d rather not talk about it. It’s too gross to mention anything about their deaths around food. It involves guns and bloods and who knows what else, judging from their appearances. One of them is Scarhead and the other is One-eye. At least that was what they used to call each other.

“You have two days left,” Maria reminds me. She shifts on the table, her legs swing back and forth, the fork is still there on her forehead and I grab it before anyone can see it floats around. Typical.

“Three.” I protest.

“Two. It will be dark soon and all you do is hang around with the dead.” She starts humming that song –oh how I hate it-, as if calling Death to pick me up sooner. She’s wrong, as usual. I have my reason visiting Wendy’s and it’s not for the food. I’m here for that guy across the road. For a painful moment I think he looks back at me.

The burn circle mark on my chest is aching and I want nothing else but to end it at once. I finish my late lunch in a rush and storm out of the diner, three ghosts following. I march down the crossroad and when I get to him, a chill runs through my bones and the three ghosts smoke away.

“You’ve been following me,” I say to that guy who strangely sneers. even behind those sunglasses I can feel his eyes boring holes into mine. His figure slightly shifts to the old lady Nemesis before it settles back into the scary guy.

He touches me with the tip of his forefinger and I burn. I burn! I can almost feel the heat when he pulls back and I end up gaping at myself. The guy is no longer there, only his voice lingers in my ear.

“That’s going to happen if you shall fail to complete the task.”

“I don’t need any reminder!” I shout at no one in particular. That successfully turns all heads at me. I glare at a man in his trench coat as he passes by, muttering words under his breath.

“You look almost like a lunatic.” Says Maria who’s suddenly appeared at my left. Scarhead and One-eye come along. I march without looking at any of them, but I can’t help replying.

“You chickened out back there. You left. Three of you.”

“Being ghosts is sometimes better than to be nothing at all, you know. That creature you’re dealing with, can burn us all down and there will be nothing left of us. No afterlife, no haunting, and no you. If you shall fail, and I know you will, we’ll welcome you as one of us.”

“I made no deal with nobody.” I look sideways at her floating figure as I speed up, another few blocks away and I’ll be at the mansion again. This time, I’ll get rid of this stupid rock once and for all.

And finally there I am, standing right across the street while the mansion stands against the threat. What if I can get there and place the rock where I should? I’ll live, but what does it mean to the people who stay in that building? If Nemesis can burn me with a mere touch, what can this rock do to those people?

What does Nemesis have against them?

“Now or never, Max.” One eye whispers, the foul smell of his breath –if ghosts even breathe - sweeps onto my face.

I kick a rock before taking one step closer. “I suppose you guys are not coming?”

No answer. They never tell me why they cannot get close to that mansion, but I can see that they’re afraid. Something, or someone in there frightened them. I wouldn’t blame them, that is also my least favorite place of vacation.

The place is not heavily guarded, but it has several cameras though they won’t work when I get close. I know it because the red light suddenly goes off and the camera stops moving in half circle as I get to the back gate. So much for security, I tell myself. A place this big should have at least a few more guards, but I’m glad it doesn’t. I hide behind the rosebush and wait until a fat lady comes out with a big plastic bag she then throws to a big bin. I slip into the back yard before the gate closes and easily skip the kitchen. This will surely gives my mom a heart attack if she finds out I’m breaking and entering. But there is this, or I’ll die. I figure out anything will be better than to let her mourn over my grave.

My heart is pounding so hard it feels like I’m walking with a time bomb inside my chest and it’s only a matter of time before it blows. Now, where is the main hall?

“Are you lost?”

I practically jump on the spot and I can hear the laughter of a little girl behind me. I’m dead meat.

“Mikey is not home, he’s at the library getting some books,” she says as I turn around. “are you a friend of Mikey?”

I clear my throat. She seems not to notice the cold sweat I’m having, or that I keep swallowing in fear. I can’t afford to lose this chance because the cost will be my death, I might as well use the little girl before anyone else finds me. “Um, yeah. I uh … have something for him,” I tell her, “can you lead me to the main hall?”

The little girl smiles widely, I can see the big gap where she lost two of her fronth teeth. She nods and grabs my hand, together we walk through the long corridor while I keep chanting prayers in my head. We pass by a couple of housekeepers on our way and I think my mind is playing tricks on me, because they don’t seem to mind to see a stranger like me walking around the place. I wonder if I have turned invisible, but as I can see my own shadow on the wall, I don’t think that’s the case.

After two turns and skipping an indoor garden, I find myself standing in a vast chamber that looks a lot like a chapel. The huge round ceiling is painted with clouds and the marble floor looks so shiny that my reflection scares me. This is it. I feel the rock in my pocket, suddenly aware that I’m about to do something I may regret. But I have no choice, I have to do this.

“What is that?” asks the little girl as I pull out that rock out of my pocket. The weight suddenly rises ten fold as I stand at the center of the hall. I hear steps approaching and the stone falls from my hand. A young guy about my age appears at the corner with the lady I saw before, Loraine-if I’m not mistaken. That guy must be Mikey.

“NO!” he says in horror when he sees the rock fall from my hand. His hand reaches out as he runs toward me, but he’s too late. Half a second later the rock hits the floor and with a blast, the room is lit with red light. A force slams me to the far wall and I fall on my back with a thud. It hurts a lot, I have red spots blurring my vision and I hear a scream somewhere close.

When I get back to my feet, the floor cracks. At the center of it- where the rock has fallen, I see a vortex of dark liquid-like smoke, twirling with a howl that comes from deep within. I watch with terror when several hands, dripping with slime, come clawing out of it. All I can manage to say is, “what have I done?”

“Loraine, get Nicole and everyone out of the house!” yells Mikey while I gape at him and that thing between us. A force so cold pins me to the wall and it freezes me to the bones. For a moment, I stop breathing. When a red light strikes me in the chest, I scream in agony. When I open my eyes, I can feel that the burn mark on my chest is gone.

“Your work is done. Leave, now ... mortal,” the voice hisses in my ear. I can see now, the four legged creature the size of a bus, snarling at Mikey, who’s busy fighting several skeleton-like men with their hands as black as coal. I see how he burns them simply with his touch, but they keep coming out from the vortex. Even as I watch the unfair fight, my feet drag me out of the building.

“YOU! What have you brought here?!” Loraine grabs me as I reach the front yard. She yanks me so hard I nearly trip and fall. The look on her face gives me horror, Nicole is crying beside her, calling Mikey in whispers. I turn to look at the Mansion and Mikey’s scream jolts me like lightning.

Loraine pulls Nicole by the hand and tells her to stay put before she starts running back into the mansion, right when a guard comes out, pulling his friend who’s bathed in blood.

“No, there’s too many of them,” he says in gasps, “they’re coming. Quick, get to the car!”

But it’s too late, two of those creatures pounce at the poor guy and Nicole screams histerically behind me. I look around in panic, looking for anything I can use as a weapon. By the time I get my hand on a shovel, Loraine has already striked at them with a knife.

“Look out!” I cry, swinging the shovel above my head to avoid getting chewed alive. I swear to God I won’t tease my neighbour about their dog ever again as I see the row of yellow teeth inches from my face. I’ll help my mom wash the dishes and do the laundry if I can survive this, and oh, I won’t skip history class!

“Aaah!” I scream in rage as I push with all my might. For a second I thought I can win the fight. I know where to aim when suddenly the creature falls in a heap and seconds later it dissolves into dark smoke, Loraine stands with a gun, I have no idea where she got it, panting. I see that the other one has gone too and I’m guessing Loraine has loaded more than silver bullets in that gun.

I step in front of her, the sweat on my forehead falls on my eyelashes and I wipe it angrily. “I’ll fix this.” I give her a promise I don’t know how to keep. I know only that a guy is fighting for more than his life in there and it is me who brought the apocalypse. I have to help him. I take the gun from Loraine and run inside.

At the moment, it seems to be a good idea.

***

It is a bad idea.

Running with a heavy gun in my hand which I don’t even know how to use. I could barely lift it properly, let alone make a shot. So when the first attack comes, I do the only thing I can think of; I swing the gun with two hands, smacking the ugly face so hard I feel sick at seeing the damage I’ve made.

Across the room, Mikey runs with a hound chasing him. He falls once, and I swear I can hear his bones crack when the hound slams him with its enormous paw. I think he breaks his ribs. Before I can run to his aid, something invisible pins me to the floor.

“I know you will come back.” The voice reminds me of the old hag before it shifts to a gentle, seducing whisper I used to hear in my most terrifying dreams.

But this is no dream. None of this is.

“How amusing,” the voice says, “you know you will die and yet ... you come. You humans are so predictable.”

Somewhere in the daze I hear Mikey’s voice but it sounds so far I cannot make out what he’s saying. I see a glint of a red blade and I know for sure the sharp point will rip my heart, but I cannot move a muscle.

That’s when I remember.

Mikey’s words suddenly click into place and I close my eyes. Not in defeat, nor in fear, but in deep understanding. When I feel the hot air sweep onto my face, with a miraculous strength, I catch the red blade between my palms and I send it flying across the room.

I get on my feet with a sudden feel of joy. I grab the gun that was thrown out of my hand before, I work on the lock and BOOM!

“My turn.” I say before firing. I’ve never had such a good aim before but I’m glad that I do now. Mikey yells at me and I throw the gun over to him. He jumps over the hound and with a yell of rage, he shoots it. Once, twice, the third hit that thing on the head and I have to pull Mikey away or he’ll be crushed as the hound collapses.

Mikey groans and takes a deep breath. I’m surprised that he can move like there’s nothing wrong with his body. The skeleton-like men snarl at us. I exchange a knowing look with Mikey and together we sprint toward the vortex.

A wall of hot flame sends us sprawling on the floor. I feel like I’ve been hit by a sledgehammer and I cough a few times, blood trickles down my nose. Mikey seems to fair better but he has lost the only weapon we have. Judging from the way his hands shake, I don’t think he can stand a chance against dozens of enemies.

“How do I close it?” I ask, pulling myself up.

Mikey looks at me as if I just asked him how to fly. “You can’t.” He tells me, “Only I can do it and I don’t have the key.”

Mikey hits one creature with the back of his hand and it burns. More are coming and we can’t go on like this. “Where’s the key? I’ll go get it!”

Another strike brings down two of our enemies. Me and Mikey stand back to back, our shallow breaths come as short gasps.

“Second floor, biggest room on the left, it’s in a box under the bed. Bring the box to me, now!”

He doesn’t need to ask me twice. I run like my life depends on it, which in this case, it literary does.

“STOP HIM!” I hear the scream and it takes all my willpower not to look back. I trip on the stairs and something grabs my ankle. I kick it twice but it won’t let go until I get a hold of the railing and shake it off my leg. I’m about to run as fast as I can to get the key when from the corner of my eye I see Mikey does a long jump and he strikes the vortex right in the middle with a golden blade so small that I scream at him.

I cannot see what happens next as a blast of white light errupts from the center of the hall and showers me with a warm tingle. Thousands of screams pierce through the hall and a few seconds later it stops. I hear nothing but my own heartbeat.

“You okay?”

Slowly, carefully, I open my eyes and I see Mikey stands above me, offering his hand that I hesitantly take. The golden blade as big as a teaspoon glints in his left hand. I stare at him in awe.

“I thought you said you didn’t have the key.”

He smiles and I find it annoying. “I don’t. I figured if I break the stone it’ll be over.”

“And yet you send me away,” I stop myself as I realize what his smile means. “you set me as a bait?”

“You’re the one who brought that thing here, that ought to make it even, no?” he grins and I slap his hand away.

“You’re a born hunter, you’ll know how to survive and fight.” He says, repeating the lines he told me during the fight. I’m a born hunter, what does that even mean?

I look at him in the eye. “How do you know something that I don’t?”

He taps my left arm, where I find a dark mark the size of one dollar coin, then he shows me his. At the back of his neck, he has the same mark as mine, though it looks slightly different. At the center of the circle is something like the head of a dragon, while mine looks like an arrowhead.

“All this time ... I thought it was just a stupid birthmark.” I say to myself, suddenly amused by the new identity. “But it’s been thirteen years, this ... all of this only happens now?”

“I was fourteen when the first strike came. I guess it’s different for every hunter.”

I frown at his answer. At him. I saw the creatures burn simply by his touch, while I must fight with every ounce of my strength to bring down one. Does it take practice, or is he much stronger than me? I figure I’ll ask him another time, things are too overwhelming for now. My heart is still pounding and my head ticks like a time bomb.

Mikey stands tall before me, one hand on his hip, staring at the main hall, or what’s left of it. There’s a huge hole in the middle, bigger than the swimming pool at the back. The ceiling is blown off and the evening sun bathes us with red light, chips and debris still falling. Mikey will surely send me to an endless social work to pay for that one.

“You know, when I first saw you here I had the feeling you needed my help,” he begins, I can’t help myself but to cut him off.

“You saw me?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yeah. You enjoy snogging with the mantel?” he says, rubbing the closet scene in my nose and I feel like I just got caught cheating on a test. Mikey thinks it’s amusing and if I knew him a little better I would smack his head for making fun of me.

“Why didn’t you do something that time? You could have caught me. Did you plan this?”

Mikey shifts his weight to the other leg. “Me? No. I know only that something is riding you. I have no idea it’s Nemesis. She must have been trying to free her son. See, my Dad was not just a hunter. He was also a spellcaster. When the darkness invaded the house, there were too many of them for him to fight, so he trapped them here, in a dark pit of spell under our feet. He managed to do it, but a spell that strong ... it killed him.”

“I’m sorry.” I say abruptly.

“Don’t be. I didn’t get a chance to meet my Dad. I grew up in an orphanage and only last year I found out the truth. Loraine brought me here.” He stops himself before saying any further. Something he’s about to say seems to upset him and I can only sigh at the view before me.

“Well, Mikey. It’s been a long day. If you don’t mind, I-”

“It’s Michael.” he corrects me with a little pressure on his name. “Only Nicole can call me Mikey.”

Oowkay, so it’s Michael. Of course it’s Michael. And I seriously have to stop gaping. Loraine rushes in, she doesn’t seem happy to see what’s left of the hall. I see Nicole runs toward Michael and he gives her a big hug, whispering something into her ear. The sight of them reminds me that I have a big brother at home. As obnoxious as he is, it’ll be good to see his face again. I’m not dead, and that’s a relief.

“Oh, no you’re not going anywhere, young man!” Loraine stops me before I can take a step away. “Look at this mess! We need to do something about it and it includes you...”

“Max.” I say.

I look at Michael and he gives me a disturbingly innnocent look. “Sorry, buddy. I listen to the adult.” He says, grinning. For the love of Mary, he grins! But then he taps my shoulder, a wishful look on his face. “I’d be happy if you can come here often, Max. This is the safest place to stay, at the same time, the most dangerous. Things are heating up and I cannot always stay at home. I need someone who can offer Loraine and the others protection while I’m away.”

So now I’m a guard.

“A fight like that ... does it happen often?” I ask, frowning.

“More than you can imagine.” Michael says, staring into the distance.

I shrug and I manage to say, “killing a bunch of monsters. That sounds fun, I won’t miss it.”

I feel a small hand slip into mine, squeezing it gently, and I see Nicole smiles at me. She looks like an angel and in that instant I feel the need to protect her rushing through my veins.

“I’d be happy if you stay with us, Maxie.” She says, her big blue eyes boring into mine, and there’s nothing I can do but nod at her. She beams at me, her wavy brown hair bouncing.

Michael snakes his hand around my shoulder and together we stroll through the corridor. Louraine is still busy grumbling about the wreck while she treats the injured guards. I still can hear she calls a doctor over the phone as we climb up the stairs. I tell Michael and Nicole I can stay until ten and should head home before eleven or my Mom will bring out a search team.

At the end of the stairs, my legs are giving up. I’ve been struggling to keep myself steady and I reach my limit. I trip and fall, before my face hits the floor, Michael catches me and I can feel myself being dragged to a room. I groan as he lay me to bed and I pull myself to sit. My whole body’s shaking and my throat burns with thirst.

My attempt to look cool and brave seems to crumble.

“Rest, Max. You did a great job on your first fight.” Michael offers me a drink and I empty the glass in no time. Nicole wipes a trickle of blood from my nose and her touch is surprisingly comforting. I know I should thank them, but at the moment there’s an urgent matter of life support that I need.

So I ask with a shaky voice, “Is there any food?”

And they both laugh. I think I pass out soon after. When I wake up, I find a tray full of food on the table by my bedside and I eat with vengeance. That’s when Michael asks me one thing I did not think he would.

“Why don’t you invite your three friends here? They’re welcome as well.”

I look up at him in surprise and when he says ‘enter’, Maria, Scarhead and One-eye suddenly appear infront of me. If anything, I think they’re afraid of Michael.

“You can see them?” I ask stupidly as the answer is obvious.

“I spotted them a while ago, when you started spying on the house. They’re attached to you and you didn’t even realize it.”

I rub a hand over my chest, the burn mark is no more. Then why can I still see the three ghosts? As if he knows what I’m thinking, Michael says, “Nemesis did not bring them to you. You-are the reason why they’re here. Your power draws them near, Max. One thing you should remember though; if you can see them, they can see you. And the others may not be harmless like them. From today on, keep your eyes open and guard your back. A hunter is also a prey.”

He tosses me a long knife and with a crooked smile, he says, “welcome to the team, Max.”

And so starts the inevitable. An adventure, some might say. To me, it’s another word for survival. Starting from now, I must stand and fight if I want to survive. And seeing the look on Michael’s face, I have a feeling that I’ve seen nothing yet. It is written plainly on his face; the worst is yet to come.

But food is food and I won’t abandon them. So I dig on my luncheon meat and ignore the several pair of eyes staring down at me. Adventures shall wait, right now I have a tasteful bite to get back to.


END.

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