The Infinity Bridge

1.

The emerald beam sizzled through the air and punched a hole straight through the Pinstripe Man’s chest. He stumbled towards Sam and then collapsed onto the ground. Smoke spiralled from his mouth.

Sam ducked as a second beam etched a flaming trail on a car bonnet. He grabbed hold of the slumped Pinstripe Man and dragged him behind the car. He was surprisingly light, considering he was three times Sam’s fourteen years.

The silence in the multi-storey car park was ominous. Sam chanced a look from behind the car. He couldn’t see where the beams were coming from.

‘Sam,’ the Pinstripe Man said. His voice was a whisper. ‘Sam, you have to get my smart-phone, or we’re both dead.’

The hole in the Pinstripe Man’s chest was still billowing smoke. There was a horrible stench of burnt flesh. Sam could hardly believe he was alive, let alone talking.

‘Where is it?’ Sam checked the Man’s suit.

‘I dropped it... when I was shot.’

Sam’s heart plummeted. He could see the smart-phone twenty feet away, in the middle of the car park.

‘I... I can’t,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll get shot.’

‘You... must. It’s the only way to stop them.’

A tremor rippled through Sam’s body. The day’s events flashed through his brain. He began to run from behind the car.

2.

Ever since he could remember Sam had seen monsters. That wasn’t quite true—he recalled the first time, so he must have been aware of the time before. His dad had just read him Not Now Bernard, a book about a boy who had found a monster in his garden.

Sam’s monster was actually shimmering behind the radiator, but the irony wasn’t lost on him.

He learned very quickly to keep quiet about it. If you told your parents about this sort of thing then they did one of two things: they either smiled then ruffled your hair or they made odd noises, like constipated hens.

Sam’s brother Ben had told them that he also saw monsters. He currently resided in a psychiatric hospital. That had pretty much made up Sam’s mind on the matter.

***

The music in Sam’s room shook the shelves. It filled every corner of the room. It washed over Sam, cloaked him, calmed him.