The Midnight Within

Chapter 11

The boy's head lolled back as his hazel eyes glazed over and the last breath whispered from his too thin chest. Even in death he kept one hand locked around Blacks Wrist. Blood still trickling from around the wound in his dirty neck. They were somewhere in North Carolina or was it south? The twins had wanted to stop in some shitty little forgotten town, Missing something or other. It was a place full of spirits and dirty children that stood by the side of the road, the twins loved it but Black was ready to move on as soon as he had seen the town sign. Yet it didn't seem to be a bust after all as he licked his bloody lips and pulled free of the dead weight. Reaching over the boys head he pushed open the back door of the van. Cold rain blew in as lighting ripped open the sky above their heads. he suddenly liked this place with it's wide-open fields and old abandoned farm houses, lots of secrets in tiny places like this. Lost souls and wounded youth ripe for the picking. With his booted foot he sent the boy rolling right out the back and into a rain swollen puddle. He had been a drifter this one, hitching his way into town when they had picked him up, full of good drugs, a wad of cash, and a trustful easy smile on his dirty face.
Looking down at the dead kid, Black felt a deep dissatisfaction squirm inside of himself. Broken and Shatter were sitting owl eyed and pouting as if the boy would somehow come back to jerky life. Spooked by the vision of Mia, they clung to each other with matching unhappy looks on their bloody faces. But Black had been more fascinated than afraid. Mia's resemblance to his Katia was almost uncanny, and their connection had been stronger as well, they had all felt it, even Mia. Yet he didn't think that she was the reason why they were being compelled to return to Disdain. It couldn't be just her or even Jack for that matter. Mia was just another piece of the puzzle. He could almost smell the lingering scent of Dragons Blood and wine, and there was something else, something he could not quite put his finer on. She had secrets, buried so deep even he couldn't pull them from her mind.
" She's come back for us." Broken growled. "Come to take us with her for what we did to her."
Hot silent anger rose up inside Black once more. It was no longer showing on their faces but the fear was still in their eyes as they stared at the broken body, now only half visible in the mud beyond the bumper. Black could not count how many times he had to tell them that Zombies were not real and ghosts could not hurt them. Dead was dead, hell they were damn near indestructible themselves but there was no amount of reasoning with either of them when it came to the things they feared.
"Well she can't have you." He tried to tamp down the rage building inside himself, but it was no use, his hand curled into a fist and shot out into the van wall, bowing out the other side. Blood began to trickle down Blacks wrist, the bones popping as he forced his broken hand open. He suddenly wanted to be out in the storm, away from his companions. He leapt from the van, his heavy booted feet coming down square in the center of the boy's chest, crushing bone and muscle with a sickening crunch. He said nothing as he walked toward the abandoned vine-covered house. He didn't understand how they had gone from fearless, to afraid of their own shadows. So many dark memories and here he was on his way to the place that hurt him the most. Reaching the crumbling house Black stood on the front porch, he could smell death from deep inside the empty house. It was a place of deep sorrow and pain. He smiled, knowing that there was no choice but to go to Disdain, find Mia and drain her dry.
It didn't matter what Jackson had in mind. He wanted her. Wanted to feel her tremble under the weight of his cold body. There was something else that was bothering him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Someone he knew he should be aware of but their name danced at the edge of his mind. Quite a few faces seemed to bubble to the surface the more he thought about it but he couldn't dwell on the past. Not now, not when he had an actual need to head north.
After the fortune teller, Black had driven them out to the swamp. They found a place to spend the day and were off to the tiny backwater town of Temps as soon as the sun set. It was the sort of town where everyone knew each others name, probably because they were all related. What would it be like to Stay in a town like this? And work in the same four places. It has also gone up pretty fast as bright tongues of yellow and orange flickered against the side of the van. The diner had gone up even faster than Black had expected, smoke billowing from the shattered windows as tiny flames raced up the sides and into the eves, erasing all traces of the sin committed within. The house was empty except for the ghosts of long dead lovers and a crime that had been long forgotten. He hated being inside the place and soon returned to the waiting van. The twins, forgetting their fear were now howling with joy. Arms linked as they spun round and round to the base beat of Slipknot's wait and bleed. Black climbed on top of the van, ever watchful and wary he waited for the sound of sirens, but like the last tiny town they torched it didn't seem that the fire brigade would be arriving any time soon. Although in Denmark, they had only missed the trucks by only a few minutes. Black had been on edge there as well, eager to be on the road and this time with an actual destination in mind.
" Time to drive." He growled down to the dancing pair, and their shared reply was carried back to him on the wind.
" We want pretty treats to eat, and bones to break. "
" Soon, but we have many miles to go and didn't you just get your fill? " Black rose up on stiff legs, annoyed by their ability to lose themselves in the NOW. He knew it was their mixed blood that caused the madness, making them sometimes childish and hard to deal with. " You can have all the treats you want when we get to the party. " The firelight danced against his white skin as a gentle breeze caught his waist length black hair, blowing the silken strands away from his sharp boned face and billowing his long black trench out like a sail. " They can't start the party without us. "
" Turn out the lights. This party is over. " Shatter said laughing as they swung round once more before staggering toward the van arm and arm. There were streaks of blood in their snowy hair and stained into their clothing. An easy fix when they got to another town but for now it would be OK, they would shed the soiled cloths as soon as they got back into the van.
" I want to ride the rides and steal the pretty trinkets. " Said, Broken. "Catch all the dollies and smash them to bits! "
" If you wish. " Answered Black, leaping down to join them at the back. Touching his fingers to their bloodstained lips, he climbed into the dark maw of the van. They had traveled this way for as long as he could remember, like gypsies. Ever feeding, cleansing and moving on.
" Away we go. " Chortled Shatter as Broken let out another, a high- pitched giggle. They did one more turn followed by a formal bow before bringing their bloody lips together for the sweetest kiss, and then they were off. The abandoned burning house getting smaller and smaller behind the speeding van.