Dark Island Book 1 (Complete)

Chapter 33

Joe froze. His palms were profusely sweating. He momentarily closed his eyes. In one swift motion, he twisted his head back, and then the body followed. Down the hallway, he saw-
There was nothing standing behind him. He stared at me and flashed a silly grin, but said nothing.
“Their gone,” I said. I lowered my gun and started walking to the elevator. Joe followed close behind. As we neared the elevator door, it automatically hissed open. I entered first and pushed for the second floor. Joe eased in and the door hissed shut.
“I bet you they went up to the second floor,” said Joe over the elevator’s hum.
“No doubt,” I replied.
I lifted my .38 to a shooting position as the door opens. I stepped out of the elevator onto the second floor. It was quiet. The floor seemed a bit darker due to a few broken lights and a few still sparking. There was not any blood or dead bodies on the floor. I proceed in half steps. Joe reluctantly followed.
I raised my gun and curled my finger around the trigger, ready to shoot at the first sign of trouble. I took several steps and studied the big imprinted words DINING HALL on the glass wall. Within ten meters, I saw through the hall’s glass door; more dead bodies. There were two bodies lying on the ground. I stopped to analyze the situation. The glass door to the hall is still open. I half stepped to the glass door with Joe behind me.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Joe shook his head. “You and me both man.”
I pointed my .38 forward and stepped inside the hall. Inside the hall, I hovered over a scorched decapitated female body, the head a few feet away. There were lines of blood from her head to the rest of her body. A few meters away laid the body of a male. It was a clean kill with no blood. I approach the male body and lowered to my knees. Joe was standing beside me gazing at the environment.
“I think his neck is broken,” I said, gazing up at Joe.
I stood up and glanced suspiciously around the eerie dining hall.
“Gosh, how I miss Susan’s delicious braised duck meal right now,” I said. My thoughts were drifting away for a moment after seeing the dining set.
“I prefer duck comfit or Chinese barbecued duck,” said Joe.
“Do you like it with a vegetable broth, Joe?” I asked. “Susan always made this on Thanksgiving for us.”
“Of course. It adds another layer of taste.”
“With what vegetables?”
“Tomato five ways.”
“Roasted, grilled, stuffed, comfit and smoked.”
“”I don’t like grilled. I find it hard to soften the centre without overcooking the skin.”
Joe started to dart his eyes around the walls. His stomach churned at the sight of the body of the female on the ground. Slowly and together, we hovered over the male body. Suddenly the air started to crackle and flutter. Joe jumped a few steps back in fear. I pointed my gun at the moving air, which were twisting and coiling, forming into an outline. Two figures appeared in front of us.
“Fuck! Here they are!” shouted Joe. His words resonating through the hall.
“I got this!”
I pulled the trigger and hit both beings squarely on their chests. I kept on firing. Some bullets seared holes through them, some implanted in their bodies, and a few bounced off, narrowly missing Joe and me.
The sky-watchers did not move. They both stood motionless as bullets hit their chests. I stopped to reload. For a moment, the hall was dead silent. I looked over my shoulder to Joe, who was standing in shock against the back wall. I waved him towards the door. Joe nodded and made his way. One of the beings took a long step and blocked the exit. Joe stopped and froze, his body quivering involuntary. The other Sky-watcher took three steps towards me and abruptly stopped. It stood there fiendishly. I pointed the gun between its eyes with my fingers touching the trigger. My heart pounding, and my hands sweating. It felt as if the being were studying me, even though he didn’t have a face. In a split second the being sneered menacingly at Joe. The being in front of me did not move forward though. Instead, it tilted it’s head to face me. It then took a measured step forward. I pulled the trigger, firing multiple shots. The bullets rained through the head of the sky watcher, whose body jerked violently. He then dropped to the ground. For a moment I thought that the other sky watcher was going to jump in, but he only stood there, motionless. The injured sky watcher moved his hands to his head, trying to scare his own life. The one sky watcher took two steps forward and abruptly stopped. I then raised my gun to eye level at the being. A creepy since filled the room. Joe slowly eased beside me. The sky watcher mimicked his moves. I, still with my gun at eye level, reached back to check if Joe was okay. My heart was pounding like a jackhammer and I couldn’t stop sweating. Then something happened to the sky watcher. His skin melted like wax on a candle; clumps of glowing flesh oozed and flowed and glinted; chunks of flesh twisting and spiraling into muscles. The legs and arms expanded and the height grew over two feet. His body was slightly more bulked than before. He was the most imposing presence I had ever seen. My stomach was tied in knots. I am mesmerized, yet terrified at the same time. We inched to the front wall. The sky watcher suddenly charged towards me and took a swing at me with its left arm. I ducked and managed to miss the blow. But his right swing struck me, sending me into the glass, and dropping to the ground. I then scrawled back onto my feet. I am injured again but the adrenaline somehow masked the few broken ribs. The only thought that ran through my mind; survival. The being then started running to Joe.
“Run for the hole,” I whispered. For a moment I thought that Joe didn’t hear me. He looked downright confused.
“You mean the door,” asked Joe quietly.
“No, the hole,” I whispered back.
“What hole?” hissed Joe, still baffled. The only hole in the room was the exit door, which is blocked.
I smiled.
A deafening, high-pitched scream erupted.
I sounded exactly like the scream for before.
“Run through the hole.”
Joe scratched his head.
“What hole? I don’t see a hole.”
I moved the .38 away from the sky watcher. Click. I fired a shot at the glass wall. The glass shattered and crumbled. The words DINING HALL were no longer readable. A hole was made. I side stepped the being and charged through.
“That hole!”
Joe bellowed, rushing like crazy behind. We ran like Olympic sprinters to the elevator. The door was open. Heart pounding, I prayed that we make it in.
We finally jumped in. I looked back and, saw the being blazing up. Then, the sky watcher suddenly vanished.
“Close! Close! Close!” yelled Joe at the elevator for closing too slow. “Hurry up!”
The door clanked shut. I slammed the button for the deck floor. My chest felt like it was going to explode, and then a thought struck my mind. I calculated the time the elevator door closed and the time the being vanished.
Shit! I thought. It is possible that the sky watcher could have made it inside. Joe also aware of the possibility. We locked eyes as the elevator descended. Sweat trickled down Joe’s forehead, and he wiped it dry with the back of his hand. The sky watcher could be in here. The elevator finally reached the deck and hissed open. We uniformly heaved a sigh of relief.
“This way,” I shouted, veering left and sprinting to the deck.
“Jack! Yelled Joe in a quivering voice.
I stopped, and turned around swiftly.
My body froze at the sight. The sky watcher got hold of Joe, with one hand around the neck; Joe was hanging in mid air struggling to breath.
My heart raced and my chest heaved. I swayed the .38 into his direction and aimed at the beings head.
“Fuck! Keep it together,” I told myself trying to keep my hands from shaking too much.
“You have to calm down,” I told myself again.
I finally pulled the trigger. A loud thumping sound echoed through the air and in a split second, Joe felt from the grip of the sky watcher. The being stumbled to its knees, trying to claw out the bullet, but also need up crushing his own head, causing his lifeless body to drop to the ground.