Otherworld: Station One. - 13. Winter 13

Mel had already changed. She had been the first one that Hamon had taken into the room, as he made us, me and Alex, wait outside and stare awkwardly at each other.

He folded his arms and looked down, studying his shoes. I noticed his arm, it was marked by a black spiraling line down his fore-arm. ‘Alex, what’s on your arm’ I asked. He glanced up at me, then down to his arm.

‘Oh,’ he murmured. ‘It happened the other day, when I used a feather.’ He paused and looked thoughtful and confused. ‘Actually, it was after I did that, that he killed me.’ He explained turning his head and staring intently at the door.

I felt my mouth form a small ‘Oh’ of surprise. ‘Maybe, that’s what Hamon needed to see, it could be how he knew?’ I offered.

Alex nodded softly and turned to face the door, looking to me like he was trying to see through it to the others inside. A few minutes later the door opened again revealing Mel.

Alex wolf whistled and I silently agreed with that evaluation. She looked so, sexy; dressed in dark brooding attire, her legs bare up until a pair of black mini-shorts that were held in place by a loose scarf. Two white ribbons were tied around each of her wrists. Her arms were crossed across her grey tank top, and draped across one of them was a short dark brown jacket.

“Oh shut up.” She said shyly. I grinned and pushed past her as Hamon motioned me inside with a jerk of his head.

He already had clothes laid out on the bed. He didn’t really say much and I changed pretty quickly into jeans, a tee-shirt and jacket that buckled on one side.

He opened the door as I pulled it on and called the other two inside and Alex began to change.

He dressed Alex like a cheap male stripper and I laughed. I mean, seeing a usually macho, boxing champion in a mesh singlet and tight leather pants would make anyone laugh.

‘Are you serious? I can’t wear this Gabriel,’ Alex growled. He stood with his legs awkwardly held in place by the restricting material. Both Mel and Alex had started to call Hamon, Gabriel, but I still couldn’t do it.

‘This is the best type of clothes to wear. Either this or huge, bulky heavy armor.’ Hamon replied standing back from Alex scratching his chin.

He had moved us into Jacqueline’s room and done something to the wardrobe in there. Every time he opened it, there was something new. I had picked up the book he had brought with him and sure enough, it was my feather collection.

‘So you brought it back?’ I asked flipping through the pages. A lot of the feathers were missing, I’d say about sixty percent had disappeared.

‘Technically no. I’ve just had to keep it on me at all times. Now Alex, you’re not working with me here.’ I stifled another laugh as Alex huffed and posed the way he was told. Mel had no such self-control and doubled over clutching onto my arm to stay upright.

‘Just get out!’ Alex roared, clearly embarrassed. It was kind of cute but I shook my head.

‘I think I’ll just risk the wrath.’ I teased. His eyes narrowed. It was really strange, having things back to normal, or…half normal. Hamon had spent the last four hours teaching us things about Hell, Heaven, and anything else we might come across.

He taught us what worked best against the creatures of the mist otherworld and that there were two different types, the ones controlled by God, and the ones controlled by Satan. ‘I’m impressed that you ditched Michael, though I can see why. I mean did you tell him you wanted to kill his ‘daddy’?’ he asked.

‘Sort of.’ I replied with a small smile. He smirked back and tossed me something from his pocket. It was a key made of some sort of malleable material that was cold to touch and felt like it was melting from my warm hands. I looked up at Hamon who had pulled out a black jacket with snap shut buttons and passed it Alex along with a plain black tee-shirt.

“Here. You know, I was only messing about, whatever you can move easily in works well.”

‘That’s better.’ Alex said as he tore off the mesh singlet and shrugged on the shirt and jacket. It did look about ten times better and it fit him well. ‘What about these pants?’

Hamon raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re far too picky.’ He muttered reaching into the wardrobe and tossed Alex a pair of dark jeans.

‘Thank you.’ Alex said shucking off his pants and putting on the new ones. He still hadn’t gotten used to Hamon near us, and I couldn’t blame him. Both he and Mel watched him with an intensity and hostility.

Simply put. They didn’t trust him.

I understood that they didn’t trust him. But I felt that if I was going to get him to believe me, I had to give him the same kind of trust otherwise where would we be?

“Well you all certainly look the part.” Hamon remarked. He glanced behind him out the window and grimaced. I was about to ask him why when I felt pressure building in my ears coupled with a strange ring. Unlike the usual one it was constant and didn’t fluctuate at all, growing in intensity until it was the only thing I could hear.

I turned to Alex and he saw the distress on my face, although I’m not sure he knew what it meant like I did. I rushed to the window ripping the blinds away and saw the roads as their slick surface was slowly obscured behind milky white mist.

I pointed, blabbering frantically, unable to hear the sounds coming out of my own mouth and whether or not they were actually words. The message seemed to have the informing effect I had hoped however and each of them turned to stare out the window.

There were figures…out there; dark, slinking, humanoid figures moving just out of eye line; like they were waiting just for us. Hamon turned to us, swallowed nervously then opened the cupboard once more. This time he pulled out a duffel bag and tore it open, digging around in its contents. He pulled out a six hundred-ml. bottle that was filled with a thick brown paste.

He looked up at me and pointed to my eyes then his lips. “Rub it on any exposed skin.” He said, and I realized why I was to watch his lips. Like before I could lip-read as some sort of consolation prize to losing my hearing.

I nodded and poured some of the thick substance on my palm and rubbed it into a lather. It smelt of soy sauce but the consistency was like putty. It stuck to my skin and I left it for a few seconds until it started seeping into my skin itself.

I rubbed it furiously into every inch of bare skin and glanced up at Hamon. He too was rubbing it in and I smirked as I watched Mel rubbing into her poor scantily clad body. She saw me and frowned which instigated my soundless laughter.

Hamon pointed at his mouth again. “It repels most creatures of the mist.” He informed me. He then addressed everyone and explained that we would be going to the train-station. Apparently our first goal, something he said would help us kill Satan, was there. I nodded to show my understanding, opened the door, and jumped back as a silent scream ripped from my mouth.

My Mum had been frozen in place just outside the door with her fist raised to knock I stepped to the side and slipped past her trying my best not to move her too much. The others followed me and, as Alex passed her he knocked her and she wobbled for a moment. I shot my hand out and steadied her whilst glaring at Alex.

Hamon took the lead as he stepped out to the front of the house. He turned to me, his dark eyes gleaming as he procured an average sized bag from a shrub near me. He looked up at me, creating eye contact and pulled from the folds of the bag something that excited and scared me.

It was a firearm the length of my forearm and glittered gold. It was heavy and was covered in swirls of silver. The grip was cool and the barrel’s end was in the shape of a triangle. How I was supposed to use it was beyond me. I guess point and click?

I wanted to say something to him but he was already handing a procession of feathers to Alex in a multitude of colours and saying something to him in a flurry of words that I couldn’t track. Alex nodded and then Hamon gave Melanie something small and delicate that looked like a spider’s web.

She tied around her neck and I saw a small jewel in the shape of a teardrop resting in the hollow of her neck. He explained what it was, again in a rapid hit of words and then pulled out his circular blade brandishing it in front of him as he stepped onto the street.

We followed behind him in a haphazard circle, each of us nervously glancing at the shadowy figures just out of sight. I could feel them just waiting for one of us to drop our guard. Something brushed against my back and I turned to see Alex soothingly rubbing his hand on my back, trying to calm my nerves. It didn’t work however and I felt somewhat more tense.

To be honest the gun in my hands felt uncomfortable and awkward. I really didn’t trust my eye or my strength and I didn’t want to have to be in the position that I would need to use it.

Hamon stopped as the mist parted as we reached the train station. I stood there with my mouth agape as my eyes drank in the scene before me.

The train station itself had taken a turn for the far worse. It was made out of wood slats but now that wood had decayed like termites had eaten it from the outside inwards. There was a foul stench in the air that reminded me of spilt vinegar and a metallic tang that settled on my tongue

The windows had darkened and seeing through was like trying to find the whitest part on a painted white canvas. I stepped closer and pushed against the glass sliding door. It shattered beneath my touch and I passed through into the waiting room. There was a man sitting at the counter frozen in still life.

I turned towards the chairs that were melting plastic in a fantastic display of dripping mozzarella that pooled on the ground around their steel legs. I ran my fingers along the surface and wrenched back as my skin burned.

What happened here? I wondered. This was sort of like what happened to the school. The slow decay and feeling of death lingered here too.

A wispy trail of mist leaked inside through the holey wall and swirled about my feet as I walked, and the slippery texture underneath my shoes reminded me of the black substance from the school. I lifted my foot and sure enough, the dripping blackness had caked onto my shoes.

I turned suddenly feeling unwelcome, cornered and incredibly vulnerable. I left through the opposite glass door that also crumbled from my touch and found the other three huddled together.

Alex was saying something with a strong expression on his face. His knitted brow and his sharp eyes made me think of fury. Hamon shared a similar look with a dash of stubbornness. Mel turned to me whilst tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes.

As I got closer I felt the pressure in my ears building until I was stumbling and tripping over my feet. I scrunched my eyes and fell to all fours, my hands digging into the dirt beneath me. A distant shout sounded on the perimeter of my senses and I struggled to lift my head but met Hamon’s concerned face. I pulled back from his outstretched hand and fell back into a sitting position.

That familiar bell’s toll echoed in my ears once more and I winced as a pit opened in my stomach and the feeling of dread filled. I forced myself to my feet despite the dragging weight of the weapon in my loose grip.

Alex gripped my arm firmly and said something I couldn’t understand.

And behind their worried faces I saw those shadowed figures break out of the mist into the dappled light and I screamed quietly.

There were four of these…things. They resembled wolves. Hunched on their hind legs their fur was a shimmering inky black though in some places it had rotted away to reveal brittle yellowing bones. They were huge, at least twice the height of an average man, and their bodies were a mass of pure muscle. Their hands and feet tapered into large paws and their normally small claws had elongated into devastatingly dangerous ones.

The pounding in my head increased with every painfully slow stalking step they took towards us. Hamon noticed the fear in my eyes and whipped around brandishing his blade. He shouted orders to the others while I clawed at my ears and tried to force the pain away.

Alex stepped in front of me, shielding me and Mel shifted uncomfortably. Her hand was drawn to her necklace and she fingered the jewel there nervously. She was as useless in combat as I was. I watched helplessly as Hamon and Alex stood firm and courageously against the creatures.

Two broke off from the others and circled into the mist again out of our sight and doubling my unease. I felt so open. I couldn’t hear a thing and that meant I was far more susceptible than anyone else.

Hamon didn’t wait for the creature to come to him, he lifted the blade and hurled it with impressive speed, following up by pulling out knife and charging forwards as the circular blade thudded into the creature heavily.

Alex seemed unsure what he was meant to be doing and I watched as he pulled a handful of feathers out of his pocket and plucked a brown dirt coloured one that gleamed and threw it to the ground. It fell, softly weaving in the invisible air currents.

It hit the ground and was absorbed into the earth. Swirling black marks then started to flow up Alex’s legs stopping just beneath his knees’ and his body pulsed with an earthen glow. He clenched his fists and ran off towards the second creature.

Hamon lifted his blade and sliced downwards as the creature ducked to the right and clawed at him tearing into his clothes and nicking him on the skin. I saw his mouth grimace and he stumbled to the left as the wolf-like creature advanced.

I felt a grip on my shoulder and someone yanked me backwards as one of the hidden wolf-creatures dove towards Mel and I with its claws outstretched. Every movement I made or had enforced upon me throbbed like a vicious heartbeat.

The gun dropped from my hands and I heard its faint clatter on the ground. Excited that I might be recovering I glanced backwards at my saviour and saw Mel’s face. Her eyes were distant but there was a relieved smile on her face. The attacking wolf-creature had slipped into the mist again and I realized what they were doing.

The two that had broken away were intending to kill Mel and myself and the other two were to distract Alex and Hamon, the only fighters. As if answering my predicament the pressure in my ears slowly faded away and Mel was shouting at me.

“Eli c’mon!” She exclaimed. Her hand on my shoulder gained talon strength as she dragged me around into the station lobby. She sat down next to the counter and I could see her shaking. I glanced back outside and watched through the wall’s holes.

Alex circled the beast facing him, the black spirals on his legs started to glow, and he lashed out with a strong kick. It hit air and Alex stumbled forward landing on the same leg he kicked out with, he swung the other around and clipped the wolf-creature in the face.

It growled as it turned its head backwards and Alex’s leg glowed again. As the wolf-creature launched itself after him he tore off with speed unlike any man I had ever seen.

Hamon was having better luck and was painting the dirt beneath his feet an ocher colour as every swipe he made cut deeply into the creatures skin.

In our hiding place I could feel the looming ominous presences before they arrived. I turned and my hand grasped wildly behind me looking for anything worth swinging in my defense. I grabbed a piece of dampened wood, part of it peeling off from my touch and held it gratefully. As my hands fastened around it another creature broke through the mist and stood, its knees bent oddly and its claws held up.

“Mel.” I whispered. She spun around from her observations and gasped. I sort of smirked, my hearing had almost returned. Was it … was it a warning system? A natural defense that I had for some reason?

I stood in front of her, guarding her from the creature. Its fiendish face was unreadable, save for the hungering in it’s eyes. I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat and brandished the plank of wood like I was Arthur with Excalibur.

The creature howled and sped towards me. I lifted the beam high and swung it with everything I could. It grabbed the plank, launched itself over my head and through the wall behind us with a resounding crash, and was gone. I sighed and turned back to the door. I was considerably less safe without the gun and resolved to go get it.

Mel screamed behind me, and I whipped around in time to see a claw reach through the wall snatch onto her waist and pull her through, slamming her head against the wall and knocking her out. “Mel!” I yelled and skidded outside stooping as I picked up the gun and opened fire on the wolf-creature carrying her. The bullets flew wide and sparked as they flew through the air.

“Watch it Eli!” Hamon roared, his circular blade in his hands and, appearing beside me, he threw it hard and I pleaded with whatever luck I had to be transferred into that blade.

It nicked the creature on the shoulder. It snarled, howled once and then disappeared with Mel on its back. I slumped to the ground as the other three howled simultaneously and then sped after it. Alex came up beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I covered it with my own and Hamon swore colorfully.

I let her go. I should have looked after her, why had I let her go?

“Howlers…” Hamon said.

“What?” I heard Alex ask. I glanced upwards too.

“That’s what they are, Howlers, which means they’re only going to one place.” He explained.

“I don’t care where they are going, we are getting her back!” I demanded. Hamon nodded without question.

“I guess it’s back to hell we go.” He sighed. I stood dutifully and slipped the gun into my waistband nodding curtly. Brushing off the sense of dread that filled the air I stared pointedly at Hamon.

He smirked and stepped into the station lobby, lifting up the melted chairs and tossing them aside like tissue paper, and pulled out the same key as before. He waved his hand along the floor and to my surprise a small key-hole appeared. He stuck it in and turned.

A resounding click echoed and with a fierce whooshing noise the mist leaked out of the station, the man behind the counter faded out of existence too and a large iron door appeared in the floor swinging outwards showing steps leading down.

“Who’s first?” Hamon offered smiling wickedly.