Darkness inside us: A book of short stories

Dark Angel

I am living in a world that is no more. War has taken much of the world I had once loved and destroyed pretty much everything that was dear to me; my friends, family, relatives, everyone who even knew me. Now I am just living with a group of people I had met who share similarities to me; one of them, Ben. had his father killed right before him by the military, and Sarah saw her mother beaten down and raped in an alley when she was just five years old. It has been ten years now and we are all living to survive.

I am sitting in a makeshift chair with the people whom I survive with, looking around at the strength that is slowly but surely depleting every inch of them. These last few months had been tough for us. People were bent on killing us and they lived in small, crumbling houses, armed with all the weapons they had stockpiled, and they would just randomly come out and attack us whenever we passed them. Usually we could defend ourselves but some of the time, when we had no sort of weapon, we just ran away from them as far as we could get before they just gave up, turned around, and crawled back into the little fucking hole they had crawled from.

"What're we doing just sitting here?" Ben says, his voice booming above the loud crackle of flames.

"We need to rest," I say, "I know people can come and find us if they want to. But they won't. And if they do we'll be prepared."

"I just feel like a sitting duck about to be blown off this log," Ben says.

Sarah replies, "I agree. I hate just sitting here waiting for something to happen. We have heard gunfire from above the trees and we know someone will be here soon. We should just go and rest somewhere else."

"Are you crazy?" I ask. "We can't do that because you all are weakening. This is tough. This needs to stop. You all need to gain your strength back."

"I know that," Ben says. "But we just need to go. I have a bad feeling about this." He stands up with his rifle mounted over his shoulder and he looks around, first at the surrounding people he calls his friends, and then back behind him into the hills, where he is sure the enemy is descending from, shooting a bloody swathe across the land that used to be the United States, but is now something entirely different, something entirely made out of darkness and nothingness. He sits back down and then hears another chatter of gunfire. "It isn't safe."

"For now it is. Those people haven't found us yet."

"Whose to say? They could be sitting in the trees right now, looking for us, wanting us to revealing ourselves so they can have fun picking us off and watching as our bodies fly backward like dolls. Then we'd all be fucked," Sarah says.

"I know, I know," I say. In truth I am getting a bit concerned too because the clatters of gunfire have been getting louder and louder as we sit there, talking about what to do, and I am half tempted to just leave this damn place, but I don't. We need to be strong. We can take care of whatever stands in our way. 

"Come on then," says Ben. He stands up and puts out the fire.

"Look what you did," I snarl, standing up, hands balled into fists. I have anger problems. When someone decides to fuck with me, I fuck with them right back. 

"What're you gonna do about it?" demands Ben. backing up, hands outstretched. 

"Just stop!" Sarah shouts, but her voice is silent in the rage that is going on. I move forward and swung my fist. Ben ducks to the ground and nearly tackles me. I dive to the right and swing my foot out, kicking him in the stomach. We have had arguments like this before. Just not as bad. He falls to the ground limp, but then decides to pick himself right back up again and he lunges at me, grabbing the collar of my shirt and bouncing my head off of a tree trunk. Blood flows down the side of my face. 

"STOP!!!" screams Sarah. We stop and look at her. We know it's foolish. But sometimes it is inevitable for us to clash heads. Though it has never been that bad. I can feel the darkness coursing through my veins sometimes, and I try to keep it down and locked away, I really do, but sometimes it is hard specially in such stressful situations as these. 

Then just like that something happens.

Gunfire is a lot closer now.

And there is a large, black shadow loomtng over everything - more gunfire - men running forward trying to shoot whatever the fuck it is. I scream and dive to the ground. The creature snarls. I look up and see it. Look it in the eyes. It seems to be calling for me.

Shit, I think.

(Come stop this and just come just calm down fucking calm down and help me and come with me into the darkness where you will surely be saved because no one can save you now just come come come COME YOU STUPID BITCH!!!)

The creature says in my head. It looks like an angel...

(but arent those supposed to be good)

Yes they are, I decide. But a dark angel. Could it be...?

(the judgement has come help us all help us fucking get passed all of this and the wrath of God the apocalypse has already happened but just stop stop stop in the name of mary joesph and jesus just stop and come already and help us fucking help us we need help we need help the judgement is upon us this)

The world swims in my eyes. I can't see a thing. I see Ben aim and fire. The bullet bounces off the shadow. Richochet is a better word. And then the bullet smashes his arm. He fall back in a splatter of blood. 

Dark, dark blood the blood of

(christ to save us all please please please you worthless filthy fucking pig help us we needs it we fucking needs IT!!!) 

The roaring is too much. I cover my hand over my ears. More gunfire. Trying to take this damn thing down. Whatever it is. A dark angel. Wow.

I feel something tugging at my brain...

(if you don't come with ussssss killll themmm the oness you call your fucking friends)

And I am being controlled. Every aspect of my life. I grab my rifle and turn. Sarah looks shocked. I shoot her right between the eyes. Blood sprays from the back of her head. She falls. And then I see a light, something so shocking, so terrifying, it shines on the blood. The craziness in my head has died down. And now something weird is happening. The light is drawing closer.

(The light of God)

And then that too dims down. And I am left in shock. The angel has completely possessed me. I am at a loss for words. 

Next thing I see are the mutiliated bodies on the ground and I realze I'm next.

I dive to the ground

(kill kill kill kill)

hoping to avoid something like this but I can't because the power of the darkness is too strong and I feel the blade ripping through my chest and see the dark red blood and then the last thing I see is the bloody heart on the tip of the sword and the angel eating it and then I slump to the ground blood pouring down the front of my chest and I just lie there. Dead.

The dark angel continues to walk the earth and terrorize people. 

There is no end to the bloodshed.