Reverie

Growing Tension

"How shallow to presume war exists only within the physical world. Battles are waged for mind and soul, where things far from comprehension are confronted." ― Christopher Hawke, Unnatural Truth

"Open the fuckin' door." Jessica Cobb gripes as she bangs on the door of the room she's sharing at the Terog with her boyfriend, Luke Brady and his younger brother Noah. The arrangement, however, was leaving her sour due to the lack of privacy and the younger boy's obnoxious personality. Always touching. Always fidgeting, She'd caught him snooping through her suitcase earlier, touching her bras, underwear and other private items. The trip was less enjoyment and more babysitting.

"Jesus, what the Hell? I said to leave it unlocked," she says, her glare at Luke unwavering as she sat the breakfast tray on the bed.

"Must of been me when Noah went out."

"Where is the little shit anyway?"

"Already out by the grotto, gettin' in the mud. The rain's let up, so he wanted out. Sorry about earlier," Luke gives his scalp a small scratch, flicking his dark blonde fringe out of his eyes. "He's just really curious."

"He's a little pervert is what he is," Jessica replies, fingering the spaghetti straps of her black tank top as she crosses over to the bathroom. "Ya' know the staff wouldn't even bring that tray up. So lazy. I mean if we-you-are paying, they should do their damn jobs."

Thankfully, Luke's wealthy parents were paying for this trip. The management position at the Castle Rock Diner back home didn't pay nearly enough for such a splurge to be possible for her. All her vacations had been to a nearby beach.

"Still don't understand why he had to tag along. Thought it was supposed to be just you and me?" she says, snapping on the bathroom light and standing before the large square mirror.

"I'm sorry. I had to bring him," he pauses. "They wouldn't pay for it if I didn't."

Jessica brushes her long dark brown locks while staring at her reflection. "Yeah, whatever."

She finishes and shuts off the light. Just as she exits, a pair of glowing yellow specks appear in the mirror.

Noah is traipsing along the sleek mud-caked rocks surrounding the grassy edge of the grotto, skipping along, carrying a small plastic toy squid. Just as he comes to a group of bushes, a hand grabs him from behind, cupping his mouth and getting him in a smothering headlock as he's violently pulled backwards towards the cave entrance. His arms are flailing as he struggles to scream.

Melissa forcibly drags the boy, dropping his toy as he works to pry her arm loose, the soles of his sneakers creating tracks along the miry cave ground as she comes to a halt deep inside. The area has cocoon-like sacks dangling from the ceiling and cobwebs as large as buildings inching out along the rocks.

Standing before a large stalagmite, Melissa waits.

Waits for It. The thing she's heard cooing to her in her ear, speaking to her in her thoughts. Appearing before her in her dreams. Promising vegeance against those who've wronged her.

Still in Melissa's grasp, her palm still clamped over his mouth, Noah watches with bulging eyes as something starts to manifest in the center of a pool of murky water near them. At first only a hint of vibrant orange-yellow glow reflecting along the ripples of the bubbling surface, then a ghostly white face streaked with crimson breaks through, gradually revealing a tall, lanky clown with an fiery tuft of hair adorning his massive cracked noggin and off-white ruffled suit. His scorching golden-yellow eyes stay pinned to Noah as he steps forward.

Noah stops fidgeting to free himself as the shock of what he's seeing renders him frozen in place. The clown is seemingly now bone-dry as he leans his thin frame closer to take a loud sniff of the boy's hair, arms draped behind his back. His breath reeks of blood and decay.