The Somnibus: Book I - Finding the Mark (A Paranormal Thriller) (5 page)

M
ort gave one last glance over his shoulder before
disappearing into the house. I remained in the car, processing the tidal wave
of information that flooded my brain.

After a few minutes, I got out and headed to my
room. Climbing the stairs never felt so arduous. Mort waited by the bed with a
grin on his face.

“How you feeling, Sunshine?”
He said through parted lips.

“You’re having too much fun.”

Time ticked by as I made my way over to Mort.

“You need to know what we are up against and what
you are capable of doing to fight back. Now come on over here and let me chain
you up.”

My vision closed in as I made my way to that side
of the room. Mort stood at my bedside, holding shackles and a padlock. My ears
pounded in an increasing rhythm, and my mind showed me the Somnibus, my nose
wrinkling at the thought of its stench. The light and sound within the room
magnified tenfold. The clanging of the chains reverberated in my heightened
state as Mort’s lips continued moving but I didn’t hear what he said.

I sat back as he chained me to my bed. He bound my
wrists first and my ears continued to pound as the confines tightened. The leg
shackles unsettled me the most. Something about having my legs secured at the
ankles and my legs spread slightly apart made me feel the most vulnerable. Mort
finally secured the belt of the harness to the I-bolt. One last tug on the
straps cinched me into place.

Mort stepped back like an artist admiring his
work.

“Now what?”

“Well, you go nighty night, and we wait.”

“How do you expect me to sleep with all of this?”

“I don’t think you’ll have a problem.” He turned
to the nightstand behind him.

When Mort faced me again, his hand held a syringe.
My chains struggled against their anchors as I tried to move away.

I screamed, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Relax, this will just take the edge off enough to
allow your mind to relax and accept the bridge,” he said in a calm tone.

“Stop it!”

I thrashed at my confines, wishing them free. Mort
remained silent as he unsheathed the needle and held it to the light with his
thumb against the plunger. I continued to struggle as a drop of the liquid
breached the end of the needle and twisted its way down to the hub.

Mort lowered the needle, his eyes squinting to
meet mine as I shook my body trying to break free from the chains. My right
shoulder did its best to avoid having the needle pushed into the muscle but was
unsuccessful.

Mort became two, then three, and continued to
multiply as the room spun away from me. The fight left my body and my eyelids
closed as my body succumbed to the injection.

“You trust me, right?” My consciousness swirled
away.

My eyes sprung open and I stood over the empty
shackles on my bed. I had no sense of reality. Mort lay slumped at the side of
my bed with his head pinned against the nightstand. Holding my hands to my
face, staring first at the backs and then the palms as if I’d never seen them,
I zigzagged on unsteady legs toward the bathroom.

My reflection in the mirror revealed fully dilated
pupils. The vise clamped down on the base of my skull as I struggled to find a
way to win back the control center of my brain.

My hand reached into the shower, turning on the
hot water. The mirror soon became moist as my reflection faded away. My hand
reached up and my finger pressed into the moisture. I drew it across the
mirror, leaving well-defined lines in its wake. Stepping back to survey the
work, my head ached more while I squinted at the lettering. My eyes widened
when I read the characters left in the wetness:

BE SAFE TONIGHT

          
MORT

The vise became an ice pick that stabbed at the
base of my head as the reality of the intrusion sunk to the bottom of my brain.
Mort was at the controls and the last time I saw him he stuck a needle in my
arm.

I had no choice but to accept his control. The
stabbing pain in the base of my skull overwhelmed me, my mind too weak to force
him
out
. 

Shutting the shower off, I made my way back to my
bedroom, reached into the nightstand, and pulled out my mother’s trace stone.
Now aware of its capabilities, a wave of anxiety fluttered in my stomach. I
made my way back to the bed when I realized the pain in my head had subsided
since I’d stopped fighting the bridge.

I realized that I did trust him, and I would allow
myself to become a passenger in my own ship as he took the controls.

I sat where Mort had made my security harness. As
I secured myself to the contraption, a surge of strength filled my chest. I’d
never felt so confident. My mind and body had merged with
Mort’s
.
He was a strong man, and I felt it at that moment. I was ready to fight.

A picture of my parents sat on the nightstand
while my fingers curled around the trace. My eyes closed and waves of emotions
flowed from my mind into my stomach. The warmth of the emotions filled my body
as the energy struck me, signaling the bridge. My eyes opened to the familiar
green haze engulfing the periphery of my vision. The sun once again warmed me
while I walked through a sprawling meadow of sunflowers. My dress, my mother’s
dress, swirled in the fresh breeze as I reached up to touch her warm face. I
enjoyed the sensation, knowing the place would soon turn dark and foul.

I basked in the warmth and enjoyed the happy
thoughts of my mother until the green haze faded and the sun dropped from the
horizon. The sunflower field went flaccid as a cold wind poured in, sucking the
warmth and life from the place. My mother’s veneer flaked away and drifted into
the darkness.

The tainted air filled my nose and settled onto my
skin. The sorrow for the loss of my parents surfaced, and I sobbed.

The Somnibus appeared in the distance and closed
in quickly. They circled around me, darting in and out, as the whirlwind of
shadows closed in. One came forward, Mallen I presumed. Its tendrils extended
from under the cloak to capture me, first wrapping my feet then slithering
toward my waist. The clammy extensions pulsed as they held me and dragged me
closer to the creature. His gaunt hand seized my chin and drew me in. 

Face to face with the shadow, I had no fear. The
yawning, empty sockets of its face crept closer, its lower jaw separating. The
piercing call of the Somnibus escaped its fetid throat. My ears throbbed as the
others followed suit, and a concerted, high-pitched hiss filled the air.

Its grip overpowered me, and then the dark face of
my attacker lit up in a vibrant, green glow. I lifted my hand to my face, and
my palm emitted an emerald light that brought detail and fear to its face. My
arms reached out and grabbed the thing when it tried to retreat, and my
unyielding grip pulled him closer. The others fled into the darkness, leaving
the lone Somnibus to struggle in the light. The tendrils encasing my legs
became loose but did not release. The shrieking intensified as the thing
writhed in front of me.

My sorrow became strength as the life power
drained from this thing that had been hunting me. I pulled it closer, staring
into its eyeless sockets. I enjoyed watching it struggle in its apparent
suffering. Closing my eyes, I sought the energy needed to close the bridge.
Apparently, Mort planned to bring it back with us. 

The energy thumped my chest, and I went hurling
backward through the darkness. My eyes opened to find myself fighting the
chains in my room. A deep exhale escaped my lungs as the pain in my chest
subsided. The room fell quiet while my eyes searched for a sliver of light in
the darkness. I listened for a sound of anything, familiar or otherwise. None
came.

My pupils found no hope for light, and my mind
gave up the search after a few minutes. I fumbled for the lock that held me to
the chains, but I didn’t know the combination.

I sat in the darkness waiting for something to
happen, but my eyes were heavy and my body drained, forcing my mind to
surrender its consciousness.

A
small, focused beam of light found its way through
the blinds and poked my eyes open. My vision blurred as I squinted in the
sunlight, still chained without much room to move. Heavy breathing from the
other side of the bed caught my attention.  It sounded more rasping, the
type of wheezing Grandma had made after emphysema seized control of her lungs.
The chains were too tight to allow me to see over the bed. I craned my head to
try to catch a glimpse of who was there. A form leaned against the wall on the
other side of the bed.

“Mort?”

An audible grunt came, but nothing that made
sense.

I sat watching the shadow for any sign of life,
when it rolled to the side and levered itself to its feet.

I waited for who, or what, might pop up over the
mattress. I breathed a sigh of relief when Mort stood up. He made his way
around the bed to approach me, legs struggling while his hand reached down to
steady himself on the bed. His head hung low and his back hunched, as he moved
closer. My back pushed even closer to the wall.

“Mort, are you okay?”
Again, no response.

He continued toward me with a shuffling movement
until he stood over me, still not raising his chin. Mort sunk to his knees and
fingered the padlock. He turned the dial for the correct code and the lock
unlatched. I scurried away from the wall, but Mort remained on his knees with
his head hanging low.

I rushed to the door and unlocked it. The door
creaked open and Mort raised his chin at last, revealing colorless, lifeless
eyes.

His head began to rock back and forth and he sat
straight up on his knees. His neck creased backward, his head dropping into a
queer position. Opening his mouth at the ceiling, Mort’s eyelids disappeared.
His arms went rigid at his side as a soft light escaped his gaping mouth and
lidless eyes. I remained frozen in the doorway, having no idea what was
happening.

The light intensified, causing me to take a step
back. The beam emanating from his mouth grew by the second until I shielded my
eyes from its blinding intensity. The air became thick with the familiar stench
of death and metal. My ears burned with pain as a shrill scream filled the
metallic air. My eyes squeezed shut while my hands covered my ears, and Mort
went limp, folding to the floor. The ceiling above him smoldered, the room
filling with the unmistakable smell of the Somnibus.

I approached him as he lay in a heap, face down on
the floor. I tapped the bottom of his foot with mine and took a step back. With
no response, I moved closer and leaned down to touch his shoulder.

“Mort?”
I rolled him onto his back and put my ear to his
mouth. He had a slight rise in his chest, but his breathing was irregular. His
mouth hung open, and he inhaled greedily. I rocked back and he coughed before
settling into a normal breathing pattern. His eyes filled with life as I got to
my knees and sat over him.

“Mort, are you okay?” His eyes fixed upward. The
perfect outline of a Somnibus
had been etched
into the
ceiling; the radiating tendrils and the tattered robe that gave way to the foul
breezes of their world. After a few minutes, he sat up with his knees bent in
front of him and his palms on the ground.

“I need to rest.” He slinked back to the floor and
closed his eyes.

I left the room, leaving the door slightly open.

W
e sat across from each other in the kitchen as
Mort sipped from his coffee mug, holding it with both hands.

Silence hung heavy in the air and I was reluctant
to break it. I wanted to give him the time he needed, but I couldn’t wait any
longer.

“Well, are you ready to talk yet?”

“Just give me a few more minutes to put everything
together.”

“Sure,” I said, although my mind screamed for an
explanation.

Mort finally spoke. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, is that Mallen guy, or thing, whatever he
is, is he gone?”

“He is for now. He’s not dead, but let’s just
say
he got a good ass kicking.” He took another sip from the
mug.

“What happened to him? It looked like you chewed
him up and spit him out on the ceiling.”

“That’s a good way of putting it.”

“How did you do that? I mean, I know how you
bridged me, but how did you capture him?”

“I waited in the corner of your mind until he
grabbed you. When he did, I took control of him and dragged him into my body.
Mallen is one tough bastard, and I took a good beating from him, too.”

Mort sat back in his chair and lifted his shirt.
My jaw hung open. From his sternum to his waist, a solid bruise, a palette of
purple hues.

“Holy shit!
What the hell is that?”

He pulled his shirt down and went back to his
coffee.

“When I took hold of Mallen and brought him into
my body, he resisted a little.” He smirked. “He attempted to beat his way out
from inside my chest. I held him until I needed to let him go in order keep
myself alive.”

“So can he come back?”

“Yeah, he can come back, but it will be awhile.
He’s going to need some time to bounce back from that beating. I’ve had a few
scuffles with him, but that one’s going to leave a mark. He may even leave us
alone after that.”

“Is there any way to get rid of him for good? I
mean
,
is it possible, or do they just live forever?”

“They can be destroyed, but it comes at a price.”

Mort lowered his chin into his cup.

“What’s that?” I asked, half knowing the answer.

“I could have destroyed him last night, but that
would have been an end game event.” He tilted the mug to his lips.

It took a second for the statement to hit me.
After I processed his words, I wanted to hear it. I wanted to be clear on what
that meant.

“Meaning?”

“If I had not released him, he would have been destroyed.
I would have been reduced to an ashy stain on your carpet, but he would have
been gone.” Mort stood and set his cup down on the table before he walked out
of the room and headed upstairs.

“I’m going to take a nap. I’ll see you later.”

He had once again dropped a verbal bomb and walked
out of the room, leaving my mind to deal with the fallout, reaching for the
swirling pieces of information floating around my head.

Why
would Mort
put
himself in danger for me, and why hadn’t he ever answered me as to how he had
not aged? I headed upstairs to take a nap myself.

I wondered if I still had to lock myself up before
I went to sleep. Mort said it would be awhile before Mallen tried to come back,
if he tried at all.

I decided to be on the safe side. I secured the
harness around my waist and laid back, allowing my eyes to give in to their
weight. My mind drifted off to sleep as my body relaxed.

A prickling on the back of my neck nudged me
awake. A figure stood over me in the dark. I sat up, my ears pounding. Mort
stood at the side of my bed in his underwear with no shirt, his hands draped at
his sides. I noticed his body was no longer a purple mosaic.

“Mort, what are you doing?”

His mouth gaped open, and the siren of the
Somnibus escaped his throat, invading my ears. The smell of stale blood and
metal filled the air as I struggled against the lock to free myself. My hands
shook with adrenaline and fear as the dial just spun in my fingers.

“5-6-1-2. 5-6-1-2!”
I repeated, hoping that just saying the numbers aloud
would somehow release the lock.

Mort climbed onto my bed and sprawled over the top
of me with his face hanging low in toward mine. He had one leg on either side
of me, his hands clasping my shoulders in place. A strand of drool hung from
the corner of his mouth as he hovered closer to my face. I lay there,
motionless, waiting for something to happen. His head faced the ceiling while
his arms and legs released their support, and he lowered himself onto me. His
full weight pressed me deeper into the mattress.

He went rigid and fell to the side of the bed. My
fingers jumped to the dial on the lock and I once again tried to release
myself. Mort stood from the floor and leaned over me, grabbed the lock, and
released it from my harness. I jumped from the bed and fell back into the wall.
Mort leaned over the bed and snared me with his eyes.

He spoke in a smooth tone, his words clear. “Get
out. You have to get out of the house now. I can’t hold him much longer. I will
take care of Mallen, and you take care of yourself. Remember everything I’ve
told you. Now go. Take your trace and run!”

His demeanor told me this was not the time to
question him. I scrambled to the door, unlatched it, and pulled it closed
before I ran down the hallway. I ran out the front door with the siren of the
Somnibus screeching through the silent night air. I stood and watched from
across the street as the upstairs window glowed with dancing light. Mort was in
a battle for his life, and I could do nothing.