Spotlights

Thought of this when I saw some spotlights in distant sky while wandering around campus.

    They hadn’t seen them for days now.  No knowledge of what had happened to their friends.  “Where the hell are they?” asked Chuck.  He folded his arms across his chest, crumpling up his white long sleeved shirt.  He let out a sigh in frustration.  Chuck was a bit shorter than an average male and had short flat blonde hair, and wore a pair of blue glasses that sheathed his bright blue eyes.

            “They probably got lost on their hike.  You know how they are,” said Ellison.  He had short brown hair, and eyes to match.  He was taller than Chuck, so he was about average height.  Like everyone else he had a pair of glasses that he wore.  The frames were a bright red, like the colour of blood.

            “Lost for three days?  Don’t you think that they would have called for help by now?”  It was Leah who spoke, her English accent heard over everyone’s wandering thoughts.  She brushed several strands of her straight brunette hair off of her purple glasses, and fixed a worried gaze on Ellison.

            He looked back at her round freckle specked face and said, “They’re fine.  They were following spotlights, there was probably a party and they just got wasted.”   A long shot he knew, but Ellison didn’t want his girlfriend to worry.

            Tammy chose this time to speak up, her natural curiosity getting the better of her.  “Why don’t we follow the spotlights tonight and see if we can find them.  It’s only two hours until dark.”  Like her best friend she was also a brunette.  She also wore pink glasses.

            “No way, that is the worst idea ever.”  Leah backed away, her hands held out in front of her in fear.  “What if we get lost?  Then how would we find them?”  Chuck and Ellison nodded in agreement.

            “We should just call security, or better yet the cops, they would be able to help more than we could.”  Ellison pulled out his phone as if he were about to call for help right then.

            “Come on guys, where is your sense of adventure?  Don’t tell me you are too afraid?  I didn’t know you two guys were such cowards.”

            “We’re not afraid,” said both men in unison.

            “Fine then let’s go tonight at eight.  Are you in or out Leah?”

            “If you’re all going then I’m going.  If we get lost though I am blaming you Tammy.”

            “Then it’s settled, we leave at eight tonight.”

 

            The four of them continued their day as they normally would, by going to each of their classes.  They all met up at eight outside of their residence, just as they had planned.  As expected the spotlights were shining in the distance, all three of them.  “Alright let’s get going.  Spotlights, here we come!” roared Tammy.

            “I still think this is stupid.”

            “Don’t worry I’ll protect you if anything happens,” said Ellison as he pulled his girlfriend into a warm embrace and kissed the top of her head.

            “Let’s just get this over with,” said Chuck.  “I want to find those idiots as fast as possible.”

            “The only idiot’s I see right now are you three, let’s get a move on people.”

            “Right,” all three of them said.  The group of friends began on their long trek to the mysterious lights.

 

            They arrived at the location in just over an hour.  They found themselves in a clearing in the middle of a dark forest, creaking coming from branches as the wind pushed on them.  Their goal was right in front of them organized in a triangle with a pedestal resting in the middle.  “What the hell is this?” wondered Tammy.

            “Come on this is stupid, they are obviously not here.  We should head back to campus and call the cops; there is nothing more we can do.”

            “Don’t worry Leah, your big strong man is here.”

            “Thanks El but we should really leave, like right now.”

            “Wait, it looks like there is writing on that thing.”  Tammy ran over to the pedestal and looked down at it.  “Guys this sounds like instructions.”  She began reading it out loud for the others to hear.  “To summon Xeravexx touch all three lights at once, then one person read these words.”

            “Don’t read it, this sounds like something from a horror movie.”  Chuck paced towards his friend, ready to pull her away from the stone plinth.

            “Come on don’t be a wimp.  We’ve come this far, we might as well go through with it.  Who knows maybe it will help us find the others.”

            “I told you I’m not a wimp.  Fine I’ll do it,” Chuck walked over to one of the spotlights and placed his hand on the chill metal.

            Ellison took that as a cue and did the same.  The only one who hesitated was Leah.  “Come on girl don’t be afraid.  There is no way this could summon something called Xeravexx.”  Tammy made a “come-here” motion with her hand.

            “I don’t know, this all seems kind of funny.  What if this really does work?  What if this thing kills us all?  No way am I doing this.”

            “It’s going to be alright Leah, nothing is going to happen, it’s probably just a joke that some seniors made a long time ago.”  Ellison took his hand off the spotlight and walked over to Leah.  He put an arm around her and guided her to a spotlight, then placed her small hand on the metal of the light.  He then walked over to his light and replaced his hand on it.

            “Good now that we’re doing what it says it’s time to read.”  She took in a deep breath and began, “hear my voice Xeravexx, feel the power of the three life-forces.  We summon you here to the land of the living, we your sacrifices.”

            “Stop.”  Leah tried to take her hand off the light, only to find it stuck.  A bright red circle lit up around the tree separate hands, demonic writing surrounding the ring.  “Help, I can’t move.”

            “Leah stay calm, it will be alright.”  Ellison was losing control over his cool demeanor.  He was trying frantically to pull his hand off, as was Chuck.

            “Guys I can’t get loose!  What is happening?”  Chuck was yelling now, fear apparent on his small face.  Sweat was running down his face now, he looked like he was on the point of passing out.  However as close as he came some unknown power kept him from the release.

            “COME TO US XERAVEXX.  WE ARE YOUR SACRAFICES, YOUR GAME TO HUNT FOR YOUR PLEASURE.”  Tammy continued speaking, but her voice was no longer hers.  It had become something deep, something demonic.  “COME BACK TO YOUR DOMAIN AND DOMINATE IT ONCE AGAIN.”

            “Stop!  Stop talking Tammy!” screamed Leah as hard as she could.  The glowing rings disappeared from the lights.  The three of the friends all ran and huddled together in front of the triangle of spotlights.

            Tammy fell to the ground, her body shaking violently.  “I’m so sorr-” Her body flew a foot into the air and just floated there, her arms held out as if she were a cross.  The spotlights turned off then, Tammy’s body surrounded by an ominous red light.  Something started to happen to her body; it started to morph and she let out a shrill scream.  A dark brown liquid spewed from her mouth and nose; it began to harden into tree bark.  Her eyes blazed into a red fire, as well as the tips of her fingers which had become fierce fiery claws.  When the bark had completed covering her entire body, two twin branches sprouted from her head and became enshrouded in a ring of flames.  After the wood had completely hardened a red liquid had begun flowing between the chunks, it was her blood.  The transformation hadn’t finished yet.  The spine within this things body grew longer and slid out of the bottom of its back.  The backbone was already covered in the material that enclosed the rest of the body.  The part that was outside of the body became a long tail with a sharp point on the tip.  As what was left of Tammy died, a demonic laugh came out of the razor tooth-filled mouth.

            “Oh my God, Tammy,” screamed Leah.

            Xeravexx floated back down to the ground and planted the roots in its feet into the ground.  The demon fixed its flaming stare on Leah.  In a blink of an eye Leah was impaled by the tail.  The tip was pointed at Ellison, Leah’s still beating dislodged heart resting in front of his face.

            “Oh man,” he said just before his previous meal made an express exit through his mouth.  He came to a quick resolve and ran in the opposite direction back into the forest, dragging a shock-frozen Chuck behind him.  Xeravexx flicked Leah’s now lifeless corpse off his tail.  She smacked off a tree, a quick snap sounded from her bones shattering within her.  Now with no mortal near him the demon sunk into the ground.

            Chuck was now running on his own without having to be dragged by Ellison.  “What was that thing back there?” he asked.

            “What do you think it is?  We summoned the thing, and now Leah and Tammy are dead.”  He just stopped suddenly.  “Did you hear that?”

            “What?  I didn’t hear anything.”

            “There, there it is again.”  A creak sounded from above them.  “Tell me you heard that.”

            “You mean the creak?  That’s just the wind.”

            “What wind?  There is no wind Chuck.  There hasn’t been any since we reached the clearing.”

            “HA, YOU HUMANS ARE SUCH PATHETIC PREY.”  The voice had so much power to it the whole forest resonated with the might.  “DO YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST GROUP OF MORTALS THAT SUMMONED ME?”  Xeravexx appeared in the tree in front of the two men.  His hand motioned above him, calling down a branch from above.  The two gasped in both horror and surprise.  Dangling in front of them was the body of their friend Mike.  A hook like branch stabbed into his jaw was the only thing holding him up.

            “No, Mike.”  Chuck chose this time to get up and run into the thick woods, leaving Ellison behind with the demon.

            The brown hair of the lifeless body was matted with dried blood, his once long face now brown with his own body fluid.  Xeravexx reached up to the back of the cadaver and planted his claws into its back.  The fire on the claws naturally cauterized the flesh ensuring no lifeblood would ooze from the wounds.  He then jerked his hand out, pulling the whole spine and ribs out, covered in red.  The intestines that were inside came spewing out of the newly formed hole.  Xeravexx broke off the bones with one slide of his hand, leaving them to fall to the soggy ground.  He hardened the spine into a spear by infusing it with some bark.

            Ellison chose this time to run; he turned and headed away from his hunter, his feet carrying him as fast as they could.  He didn’t make it more than ten feet before he had the makeshift weapon heading straight for his head.  The end of the spine planted itself firmly in Ellison’s skull, pinning him to a tree.  “TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO,” chuckled Xeravexx.  He walked back into the tree he had appeared from.

            Chuck was still running, however he had no idea where he was.  His breaths were coming in short gasps now, and he was getting light headed.  One of his feet caught on something making him tumble to the ground.  He looked back to see what had tripped him.  There he found a half burned body.  It was the body of his girlfriend Elisia.  The only thing that allowed him to identify her was her brown hair and round tanned face.  “No not you Elisia.  Why did you have to go with them?  Why?”  However he didn’t dwell on it for long.  He knew he had to run if he wanted to live.  Just as he got up, a fireball hit the ground, just missing him.  He looked back to find the demon shooting another ball of fire at him.  His legs carried him away from its trajectory and further from the flame-wood demon.  Chuck managed to make it another ten meters away before he had to take a rest.  He leaned against a tree.  As he rested there his hand glided against the wood; it hit something hard that felt like it was covered in hair.  His eyes flicked down to the spot.  There he found the top of a human head sticking out from the tree.  Chuck’s heart dropped as he recognized the ginger hair that dangled there.  “Mary, not you too.”

The trees around him began to come alive, their branches reaching for him.  “THERE IS NO ESCAPING ME, CHUCK.  THIS FOREST IS MY DOMAIN, I CONTROL EVERY TREE IN HERE.”

Chuck didn’t give in, but his hope of survival was waning then.  He continued to run, faster and faster.  It wasn’t long before he found the body of Matt, the last one who had been missing.  It took him a while to recognize it as his friend.  The thing was so deformed, it was partially wood, its eyes and fingertips burnt.  Chuck realized quickly what this must mean.  Matt must have been the one who read the pedestal and became the vessel for the demon; that was the after affect, the same thing that would happen to Tammy’s body when Xeravexx leaves the land of the living once again.  He decided not to gawk at the half-bark-half-flesh thing on the ground and just kept running.

After about five more minutes of running, no demon in sight, Chuck saw his first ray of hope, sunshine peering through the trees.  He picked up his pace and literally fell through the edge of the trees.  He had done it.  “Thank God it’s over,” he said to the bright sky above.  Chuck rolled onto his back and stared up at the partially cloudy sky.  It had taken him all night to escape, but he felt free and safe.  However it wasn’t over.  A dark figure walked up to him, silhouetted by the sun behind whoever it was.  “Who are-” He made it no further before the person smacked him in the head with a hard rock, knocking him unconscious.  The being picked up his feet and dragged his limp body back into the forest, putting him back into the darkness.

“Ugh,” he said as he began to awaken.  His eyes began to adjust to the darkness, one lens of his glasses cracked.  “No!” he yelled.  He was back right where he started, back at the spotlights.

“I TOLD YOU THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPING ME.  NOW YOU HAVE EVADING ME LONG ENOUGH IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO DIE.”  Xeravexx walked out of the treeline followed by the person who brought chuck back to the clearing.  The two stood in front of a shocked Chuck.

“What are you doing here?”  Standing before him was another one of his friends who he had thought was back on campus.

            “You don’t think my master could get people here while in the Underworld did you?  No he needs me to bring his prey here to summon him, and you are all too easy to influence.”  Jasmine walked right to Chuck, close enough that both of their glasses touched.  Her dark skin looked even darker with the lack of light, her brown eyes appeared almost black to him.  The only amount of pure white that showed on her entire body was her teeth as she smiled in an utterly evil way.  She stepped back behind Xeravexx and motioned for him to continue on his way.

            “PREPARE TO DIE MORTAL.”  Xeravexx grabbed Chuck by the neck and threw him back to the trees.  The branches came to life at the command of their demonic master and crabbed Chuck’s arms and legs.  The trees limbs started pulling on each of the appendages.  Chuck let out a blood-curdling yell as the pain of his splitting body shot through him.  His bones were the first to go.  With a quick pop each joint was pulled out of their sockets.  His flesh started to peel off, blood pouring to the ground below.  That was all he could endure, his head just dropped, passed out from shock.  Then his arms and legs finally gave in and were completely torn from his torso, leaving his chest and head to fall to the ground and drain of blood.  The branches of the trees sucked in the limbs, and the roots pulled into the ground what was left of poor dead Chuck, removing all evidence but a pool of fresh blood.  “ANOTHER FINE HUNT.  IT’S TIME FOR ME TO RETURN TO THE UNDERWORLD UNTIL I AM SUMMONED ONCE AGAIN.”  The flames died and the bark half receded, leaving Tammy’s body lying there in the same state as Matt’s.  Jasmine grabbed the deformed thing and dragged it into the forest; she removed anything that would deter future humans from performing the ritual.  She walked over to the spotlights and turned them back on, their light shined bright in the sky every night. 

            “Time to send another group to their deaths,” she said as she headed back to the university, several people already in her thoughts.